The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion
by Marik Kurakashi
Summary: New summary: In a world where the nail was found and discarded, Shinji Ikari and a different NERV stand alone against the ANGELS.
1. The Road I Walks is Paved in Gold

Disclaimer: Relax, it's only fan fiction. Take a deep breath, and then remember all registered works you see within belong to someone who is not me. So please, sit back, relax, and enjoy your stay. Not like you can leave...

Author stuff: Just experimenting with a different brand of fan fiction today. Don't mind me.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 1 The Road I Walk, is Paved in Gold

by Marik Kurakashi

Ah, smell that post Apocalyptic air, which is exactly what young Ikari Shinji did as he stepped off the empty tram. It stank with the usual big city smells, well, usual for post-Second Impact big cities anyways. Tokyo-3, the third Tokyo after the first was munched on by the sea and someone blew the second one to hell, was an eyesore to the outsider from the hills.

Granted, judging it for very minuscule amount of time he had been was a certain brand of folly, but he didn't quite care at the moment. Lonely and isolated though it was, the hills were peaceful and lacked the overwhelming crowds that Tokyo-3 was expected to have. Expected in the sense that he hadn't seen a single person since he had arrived and everything was closed.

"Just my luck," he cursed under his breath, the light suitcase bouncing gently against his left leg as he strode with a purpose for a pay phone. "I would have to come on some kind of holiday or something."

Sachiel looked up from his indomitable march through the UN forces confused, getting the sense that he was being ignored. This feeling was quickly forgotten when another V/TOL tried to shoot his face off. He felt it very rude and decided that no matter how entertaining the little pests' struggle was, it was still annoying.

Miraculously clueless to the deathmatch happening outside the city, equally ignorant of the sound of shit getting blown the fuck up, Shinji finally found his pay phone. Just as well, he had been eyeballing some of the abandoned shops like a rioter before he spotted it. It was probably just the effects of the city being such a ghost town, which is why he didn't dwell on his sudden desire to smash a window and go looting, only sliding the coin into the phone and working on finding whoever was supposed to pick him up.

They had forgotten about him obviously, hence his stroll through the town minus populous. It was the third time he had failed to connect to any of the numbers given to him when he had finally had enough. A snarl rose from his lips, well, as much of one as one so small and meek can muster, and he proceeded to bank the phone off the main body for a good minute,

Catharsis was the prescription for the young Ikari, and he worked to get it filled as fast as possible.

His wind was returning when the missiles decided to rudely interrupt his reverie by exploding harmlessly against a heretofore unnoticed by him giant alien monster thing. He promptly lost his wind again as he shrieked in terror, pausing only to grab his one suitcase and flee the area. In his flight, he missed spotting a blue hair girl who appeared from nowhere, and went right back to it before he could turn around.

As it turned out, salvation was upon him as a beat-up blue car skidded to a halt just in front of him, narrowly avoiding making a garish hood ornament out of him. He unceremoniously fell backwards onto his posterior, giving a slight "wuff" of noise like an oversized dog as he landed. The distinct sound of laughter woke him from his daze, and he shot to his feet to give the careless driver a piece of his mind.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman said, her tone exactly patronizing as she looked down at him as pleased as punch. "I'm late anyways, and I even set my clock early so I wouldn't be."

"Uh..." Shinji didn't respond to that, though the overwhelming feeling that he should flee this mad woman attempted to arrest him, but his feet decided to commit treason at that moment and remained rooted to the ground.

"I'm Misato Katsuragi," the woman continued professionally, well, as professionally as she could while restraining a series of snickers. The distinctly Western style introduction twanged a bit in Shinji's mind, before he reminded himself that he had no concept of what the West was outside of classes. "And you're Shinji, correct?"

"No, I'm the Pope." Shinji said bluntly, hoping the impossibility of the claim would annoy the laughing hyena some. There hadn't been a Pope since everything in the Vatican was incinerated in Second Impact. "Who the hell else would I be?"

"Well sorrrry," she drawled, eyes rolling at the uncharacteristic sarcasm. She could only make this claim on appearance alone, and he looked too scrawny to be a wise ass. "No one gave me a picture of you."

"Great, just great. Now can we get out of here before whatever that monster I ran away from comes over her and kills us?" He was completely serious about this, and had Misato not been the head of NERV operations, she'd be tempted to get a look at what it was.

"Get in, buckle down, the ride's gonna get bumpy." Misato decided she liked the kid, after a fashion. He'd better watch his mouth or someone was going to shoot him in the face.

The drive was uneventful, since the two had gotten most of the banter out of their system, they settled into the routine of Shinji staring at Misato's tits and her letting him, since it kept him quiet and let her focused on the road. Most of the men who worked with her regularly had a tough time fighting the gravitational pull of her back pain inducing rack, so a fourteen year old kid in the throes of puberty was completely knackered.

Misato pulled the car into the final tunnel to NERV when the N2 Mine detonated, buying them some precious time as Sachiel was stunned by it. Still quiet as Shinji seemed oddly melancholic about all this, Misato lead him through the loops and turns that decorated the halls of NERV HQ. After a depressing length of time, the pair ran into a blond woman wearing the curious combination of a one-piece high school issued bathing suit and a stark white lab coat. Eyes met breasts for a second time before Shinji jerked his head away when he felt the woman glower at him.

"You're late Misato." the woman intoned, bored, measured voice rolling off the wall. "Is this him?"

The sale on people who loved asking obvious questions continued, much to Shinji's dismay.

"Nope, he's the new Pope. Turns out the Angel got lost on his way to Rome-5." Misato said, cutting off any potential conflict as Shinji looked to snap out something sure to offend someone. "It's not his fault no one told the Angel it's white smoke and not burning an entire city down."

"Yeah, hi, I'm Pope Wiseass the Fourteenth. Pleasure's all mine." Shinji said, playing along as he stuck a hand out to the blond.

"Captain..." Ooo, she sounded angry.

"Oh grow up, Ritsuko, of course it's him. If I did bring back the wrong guy, well, who forgot to give me a picture of him, hmm?" Rawr, the claws were officially out now. Shit looked to be turning quite real, quite fast in these parts.

"Whatever." The scientific and well-thought out reply of Doctor Ritsuko Akagi came in the same bored tone that chirped through the halls as she spun to resummon the elevator.

"Good one," Shinji whispered to Misato, ignoring the stewing blond.

"Whatever you say, your holiness." Nope, definitely won't let him live this one down, no sir.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"I'm sorry, did you guys not put lights down here or something?" Shinji was trying to behave, but being lead to a dark room begged to be snarked at. "It's not my birthday and I don't know any of you, so a surprise party is out. Are there strippers? I'd like that, so no to that as well."

Misato's laughter came out like a bark, having blown through her attempt to suppress it.

"This is," Ritsuko said, voice growing to a reverent whisper, "Humanity's last line of defense against the Angels. Evangelion Unit 01!" The lights went up at her signal, sigh, you have to love your kohai sometimes. A distinct shudder went down the spine of Maya Ibuki, as if she knew she was probably going to be walking funny for a while.

"It's a giant robot?" Shinji, for one, didn't care for the theatrics. Maya shot him a death glare, sempai had worked so hard to set this presentation up for the little ingrate.

"In the same manner you're a little shit," Ritsuko said evenly, not all that upset when she considered his parentage. Okay, so she was pretty riled by his attitude, but she wasn't ready to whip out a gun and shoot him in the face. Yet.

"From the lack of information I'm getting, I take it I'm suppose to pilot this thing." If he were a little more self centered, he'd wail about how this was what his father wanted him for.

"That is correct!" A sharp male voice rang out from the right of the screen, before he entered the picture, a spotlight shining on him as he glared down at the boy. Was that music in the background?

"Oh hey Father." The younger Ikari was trying to be respectful here. He had to phrase things in a delicate manner to Gendo, least he get shot in the face for it. "I got a question, and I'm sure I won't like the answer, but why didn't you call me here a couple weeks ago? I'm not entirely unreasonable here, if you'd have explained it all to me, I'd be raring to go out there fly this thing."

Gendo's eyebrows climbed over his shades and waved to the world. It was a short list of things that could shock him, and his son not being a spineless coward was one of them. He kept his cool and refused to answer.

"Hey, Shinji," Misato said, trying to defuse the situation. "You have to understand-"

"Understand what exactly? That you're trying to strong arm me into doing something a five minute conversation could have done? I could understand if Father brought this up before and I gave him the finger, but FUCK woman, I didn't even know what he did for a living or that he was alive before that epic one word letter he sent me." Now Shinji was getting mad, as he had this distinct feeling that they were going to patronize him about this.

"I'm not hearing a refusal to pilot," Ritsuko said, gazing up at Gendo. Mainly because she wanted to duck for cover if he whipped a gun out to shoot the little fucker.

"Yeah, like I'd be able to say no. Do you have another pilot? One that could go out there and fight?" Silence, glorious silence greeted him. "See? This is the shit I'm talking about. I may have slight reservations in piloting something I know fuck all about, but to put a loaded gun to my head and say do it is just a bit much right?"

"Perhaps you're right." Gendo digested the surprising rant from his previous thought to be spineless coward of a son. "If you'll pilot it, then there is no further need for this discussion."

"Of course, I could already be out there fighting it but somebody decided he had to make sure I'd have no choice to. And hell, I would have even known what I was doing! But hey, what's a fight against an alien monstrosity beyond human understanding without a lot of needless complications against it right?" Shinji turned and looked up at the purple giant, hoping that he'd be able to make it through this battle.

There was only silence in the EVA cages, for there could only be after everyone realized that they were pinning their hopes of survival on a child untrained and unprepared for this battle.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Luckily, it seemed the time that was skipped with all the pointless dramatics, such as Gendo's backup plan of using their bedridden and severely injured other pilot in a sleazy way of ensuring that the Evangelion got its pilot. As it was, Shinji was getting a crash course in what was to be expected of him as he piloted it. He dutifully listened to the support staff fill him in on sync ratios and AT-fields, but it was a fight to keep his eyes from crossing as they waxed a little too nostalgic over numbers and theorems that went into the monstrosity in purple before him.

"So here I am, waiting to save Tokyo-3." Shinji muttered to himself, figuring to keep his thinking small so as to avoid thinking about the larger implications as he waited for the Eva to be activated. No sooner did he stop paying attention that an orange liquid start filling the Entry Plug. "OK, what the fuck is this?"

"It's LCL, Shinji." Ritsuko informed him in the kind of voice you'd use telling someone else something you know and they don't. "The Evangelion won't work without it. Relax, it isn't water, and once immersed, you'll be able to breath."

"Will you people quit leaving out important details like this?" Shinji called back, instinctively closing his eyes as the LCL crept over his head. He opened his eyes and suddenly knew what an ice cube felt like in a glass of orange soda. "What's that smell?"

"You don't want to know, really, you don't." Well, now, didn't she sound positively nervous at that question. "Trust me."

"Fine. Now what?" Shinji said, deciding to get back to the task at hand.

"Just sit there and clear your mind for a second. We need to get a baseline for your sync ratio so we can determine the best way to have you fight." Misato, surprisingly, provided that answer. Ritsuko gave her a bug-eyed look for the briefest of seconds. Maya shuddered some more for some reason, though she didn't seem to perturbed by the sudden onset of chills.

"Sounds easy enough." It was and it wasn't. The more he tried to clear his mind, the more crowded it got. Eventually, he amused himself with the idea of that his father genuine- hahahaha, just fucking with you. He simply managed to close his mind down by thinking about what a sync ratio was. They had explained it, in manner you would to someone who won't be around to actually learn more about it. Such faith these people had in him, which was their fault entirely.

"Sync ratio holding at 79 percent." Makoto Hyuga chimed in, finally escaping the dreaded Left Side of the Screen. "Not bad for a first timer."

"Hell, walking and fighting might not be beyond him either." Shigeru Aoba added, rounding out the bridge crew cast as well as following Makoto out of the Left Side. They had a chance, in the same vein that you'd get super powers by being struck by lightning while being bit by a radioactive animal and a nuke going off in your face. Okay, so they were still screwed but maybe he could kill the Angel with laughter.

"The Angel is still about fifteen minutes away." Maya added, not giving in to despair. If only because she didn't feel it right to try and be the one that was the morose motherfucker on the crew. Let Shigeru or Makoto do that shit, she'd be content to state the obvious about things and generally be useless when it came to the actual fighting. Like a good bridge bunny did.

"Okay, Shinji, focus for now on getting the Evangelion to move." Ritsuko commanded, getting a little too into being a bossy bitch for Shinji's taste. Not that it mattered, since he was in the damn thing and she was guiding him towards the glorious finish line of not dying like a stupid fuck.

"Alright. One foot in front of the other, yes?" He hoped that didn't sound too standoffish. To think, they could be doing this without a giant monster coming to kill them in the next fifteen minutes. The Evangelion lurched forward in the large area cleared for this emergency training session. Success! Another lurch and Shinji dared to think he was starting to see why all the kids back in the hills thought giant robots were cooler than a hooker with three vaginas.

"Sync ratio is holding," Makoto said, deciding to ignore what seemed to be a shudder from the Eva. "Seems like the kid wasn't that bad of a choice." The alternative being Rei's malformed living corpse was a small comfort in this time of physical crisis.

"Movement, while slow, seems to be good." Shigeru chimed in, as if to remind people he was still there. He really needed to speak more, or there was no point in him being on screen at all.

"Walking looks to be conquered soon," Maya tossed her hat into the opinion ring. "Maybe he should shadow box a little before we drop the AT-field generation on him." She was being reasonable here, because they couldn't afford to have a personal crisis over failure derail their ticket to not being murdered town.

"Okay, that seems reasonable enough." Ritsuko only agreed because it was Maya, which loosened the red string that was attempting to strangle her. That and the other two were assholes. Anyways, she thought over what she had seen so far from the Third Child, and found herself not entirely in dislike of his sarcastic manner. Though she wondered where he got it from. "See if you can make it do some punches, Shinji." It was still plugged in, so powering the thing wasn't an issue.

"Walking before running, hand to hand before weapons training eh?" It was almost a well thought out plan, which he could respect. Then he remembered how he got to this situation, and he found that respect was the farthest thing from his mind. The Evangelion took a bastardized boxing stance, since Shinji didn't know the proper one and only remembered this stance from a movie his guardians made him watch. An awkward left jab poked out, harmless if Shinji himself did it, but being a giant robotic monstrosity whose very existence blasphemed against the heavens themselves gave it a certain power and menace. This was followed by an equally awkward right cross, the world's slowest one-two combo being executed as though time itself had been slowed to a crawl.

"Though his form sucks, the fact he can do that is impressive." Ritsuko said, to reassure everyone else that while he looked every bit the amateur in there, he was exceeding what a first timer should be able to do. She watched as the Evangelion went through a sequence of punches and even managed a kick or two that didn't look completely horrible. It even started to dodge and weave a little, as Shinji fell into a silent rhythm and began to work the kinks out of his lack of fighting skills.

"Our chances improve." That was Misato, though it was less hopeless than she had expected it to be. While he couldn't be guaranteed to win, he could at least not be horrible boat murdered in the first minute of the fight now. Don't sweat the small stuff, just have faith in the Evangelion, it'd make up the difference for what Shinji lacked. "While it'd be nice to believe in Shinji wholly, we can't let that cloud our judgment in the coming battle. It's a small blessing he's getting this emergency training." Nine minutes before the Angel was on top of them. Nine minutes to train the kid to defend all their lives.

"Hey, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this." Shinji was lying through his teeth, but he knew that they knew that he was a pretty shit pilot at the moment. If they didn't have to rely on him, he'd still be up in the hills, not giving a shit about any of this. "I think I got this down. What's next?"

"The progressive knife." Misato was adamant about that point. It was the only weapon ready for the Evangelion at the moment, and being a little versed in the art of stabby was as important to their chances as the AT-field. "It'll only take a few minutes for him to get this too. If we're lucky, he'll be ready for the AT-field by the end of it."

"I agree." A surprise entrant to the observation, Mr. Gendo Ikari his damn self! Flanked by Kouzo Fuyutsuki, the papa of the boy in the monster machine sauntered in pleased as fuckin' punch. "The AT-field is a delicate thing, Doctor. Let's not shoulder too much more on him."

"Alright." Ritsuko relented, having the Commander come out of his hole to all but issue the order for the knife training next was enough to erase any countermand she might have. "Shinji, in the left shoulder of the Evangelion, is the progressive knife. I want you to pull it out and practice using it."

He complied without comment, and yanked free a small knife, it almost looked like a box cutter had a love affair with a switchblade.

"Before you decided to make a snarky comment," Gendo said, shouldering past Ritsuko to cut off the impending rant. "Yes, we got caught off guard by the Angel. Yes, it would have been better to have started training you a long fucking time ago. But the Angel had no courtesy to let us have these luxuries. There will be more weapons forged for the Evangelion, if the knife dissatisfies you so, then defeat the Angel and live to see them come to life."

"Holy shit, is that you Father?" Shinji was taken aback by the almost positive reinforcement from his sole parent. "Well then, I guess I can't argue against that." He so could, but fuck it, if his dad was making excuses for this shit, he knew there was something larger than the robot he was sitting in at work. "So let's get on with this." The Evangelion, however clumsy and awkward it was, began to swing and thrust the progressive knife around with earnest.

"You ever wonder why the Commander is the Commander?" Shigeru whispered to Makoto, looking at the elder Ikari with the doe eyed stare of one caught in high beams.

"At times, but then he does something like this and it's like, how do you question the guy?" Makoto whispered back.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"The Angel is here!" Maya yelled nine minutes later, the Evangelion just getting loaded into the catapult. "It hasn't attacked yet!"

"Launch the Evangelion straight away!" Misato ordered, it was go time. This was the point of no return, would they live like Kings or die like urchins? Only Shinji could answer that now.

"Hello," Shinji murmured under his breath as the Eva emerged from below ground directly opposite Sachiel. "I'm the welcoming committee. You have an appointment?"

Sachiel roared and raised its AT-field.

"Oh ho, already on the defensive huh?" Shinji chortled, before he raised his own almost casually. "Then let's get dangerous my giant alien friend."

The Angel needed no further prodding, as he charged forth with a mighty scream!

AT-field met AT-field, their wavelengths merged and disappeared. Shinji jerked the Evangelion into a swift right cross, thundering into the facial mask that he thought was Sachiel's head. His foe, caught off guard by the sudden attack, took it full on, rolling back out of the Eva's range, AT-field reblooming to life.

"Attack successful! Damage is minimal but he hit the son of a bitch!" Makoto cheered, the tense atmosphere threatening to choke them all.

"So, is that all you got?" Shinji taunted, putting the Evangelion into the loose boxing stance he had taught himself. "I'd almost dare to hope that was enough, but I'm not stupid enough for that." Sachiel gamely got to his feet, and was ready to have it out with the Evangelion right fucking now.

"I'd complain about the lack of damage," Misato said, "but I'm not delusional enough to believe a punch like that could do what the N2 mine failed to accomplish. It wouldn't have even pierced the Angel's core."

And like that, the battle for Tokyo-3 broke down to a good old fashioned case of fisticuffs. Shinji stayed active and loose, peppering Sachiel with light jabs and crosses, doing no damage but keeping the monster off balance and frustrated. By contrast, the Angel's swings seemed wild and sloppy, missing by a good margin as Shinji somehow fell into the rhythm of the fight. A swift right front kick to the chest sent Sachiel tumbling away, the civilian shelters behind the Evangelion safe for now.

Now he was mad. Before, the UN forces annoyed him, but their futile struggle only served to amuse him enough to abate his rage. Sachiel roared again, and a small part of Shinji felt that it could understand the message beneath the sound and fury.

"Seems he's feeling a bit peeved." Shinji muttered, pulling out the progressive knife and taking what he thought was a knife fighter stance. "I'm glad, I wouldn't want him to think I'm fucking around here."

Onward came Sachiel, faster than before as he sought to overwhelm the purple monstrosity before him. It was not to be, however, as Shinji ducked low and brought the knife into the right wrist, the vibrating blade slicing through the flesh of the Angel quite readily. Blood spayed from the wound, and back stumbled the once unstoppable monster, clutching his wound.

Another roar, and Shinji sighed and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, you know." Shinji seemed apathetic at this point, but not quite bored. He just didn't care anymore. "You can cry all you want, but I'm not going to roll over and die because you're feeling pissy that I'm fighting back better than you thought I could." The Evangelion came forward, slashing the knife recklessly, forcing the Angel to twist and turn to avoid the blade.

"H-he has it on the ropes." Maya politely stated the obvious, the unnerving silence of the bridge drove her to say something to alleviate the pallor.

The end came fast and brutal, and played out like something from a movie. Shinji twirled the progressive knife into the air before twisting the Evangelion inside of Sachiel's arms, catching the blade in a backhand grip and slamming it into the orb in the center of the Angel's chest. Sachiel's dying wail was muted by Shinji pulling the knife free and punching it hard enough to clear the city bounds.

Sachiel's death throes guttered out, and it glowed in a brilliant light, before it exploded in a dazzling fashion. The flames twisted themselves into a cross pattern, as if to remind them of the origins of this creature. The Evangelion stood triumphant, covered in the blood of its fallen foe.

"And so, a young boy rises and becomes a legend..."

End chapter 1

Teaser for Chapter 2 "Your First Impression's Got to Be Your Very Best"

"Not that I mind you winning," Misato began as she drove them back to her apartment, where he'd be staying at during his time at NERV. "But why are you such a wiseass?"

"It's nothing too special," Shinji said, offhand because he was coming down from the adrenalin high he was on earlier. "When I was nine, I fell down the stairs and broke my collarbone. I was so fucked up on painkillers that I managed to have an epiphany that there was no point being an introverted loser because I thought the world was out to get me."

"How did you manage that?" Misato wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she opened this can of worms

"This the part where I'd say something inspirational, but really, it was a pep talk from the spirit of some guy named Freddie Mercury. I figure I owed it to him after he saved me from the giant purple weasels trying to eat me." There was a long pause. "I was nine and they gave me enough morphine to stun a bull elephant. I'm just glad I didn't turn into a junkie."


	2. Your First Impression

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the filthy remains of letters butchered into the shape of words displayed here.

Author note: Second chapter time kids.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 2 Your First Impression's Got to Be Your Very Best

by Marik Kurakashi

When Shinji returned the Evangelion to its cage, there was no grand celebration waiting for him. NERV was a professionally run military operation, and thanks to Hollywood sinking under the ocean, the world forgot all about cheesy movie time dramatics. The engineers nodded to Shinji as he walked along, needing no words of praise to convey their approval.

It was a strange feeling to say the least, as a more introverted and approval seeking child might think no one liked what he had just accomplished. But Shinji was a well adjusted kid these days, and so understood the quiet acceptance for what it was. He arrived back in Central Dogma, standing quietly before Misato, his father, and Fuyutsuki as they waited for him to say something.

"Pilot Ikari, reporting in." He said, aiming to be a little professional. After all, this was a military organization, and being a part of it required a certain adherence to protocol.

"Well done." This was all Gendo said before he nodded to Misato and slunk off into the night with the old man perched behind his shoulder. Shinji was shocked by the brief phrase of praise, and so missed what Misato had said.

"I'm terribly sorry, could you repeat that?" He turned his focus onto the woman before him.

"Congratulations on a successful sortie pilot." She wasn't mad, as there weren't many in NERV who didn't know about the estrangement between their commander and his wayward son. "This will be the first of many successful operations."

"Yes ma'am!" He saluted her, and she smiled again. She found she liked the boy, after a fashion.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"So," Shinji said as he stood in NERV's garage. He was waiting for Misato to fish her keys out of her purse. "I suppose I'll be staying somewhere in Tokyo-3 then?"

"With me," she corrected as she triumphantly held the blasted keys aloft. "There was no time to set up an apartment for you, and this way, you'll have nominal privacy without constant Section 2 supervision."

"I wouldn't think that you'd have barracks here," he commented as she ushered him into the car. "Glad to know there is some common sense here."

"Sadly, such attitude is reserved for the little stuff." Misato was still vaguely off put that this kid came out of nowhere and voiced the exact same protests she made to Ritsuko before. The blond had studiously failed to voice her concerns to either the Commander or Sub Commander. Bitch.

"Always make you wonder how something so uncommon can be called common yes?" Shinji tried to enjoy the ride, rough and bumpy as it was.

"Not that I mind you winning," Misato began as she took a left and started the slow trek towards home. "But why are you such a wiseass?"

"It's nothing too special," Shinji said, offhand because he was coming down from the adrenalin high he was on earlier. "When I was nine, I fell down the stairs and broke my collarbone. I was so fucked up on painkillers that I managed to have an epiphany that there was no point being an introverted loser because I thought the world was out to get me."

"How did you manage that?" Misato wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she opened this can of worms

"This is the part where I'd say something inspirational, but really, it was a pep talk from the spirit of some guy named Freddie Mercury. I figure I owed it to him after he saved me from the giant purple weasels trying to eat me." There was a long pause. "I was nine and they gave me enough morphine to stun a bull elephant. I'm just glad I didn't turn into a junkie."

"That's almost too fantastic to believe." Misato wasn't being lippy about it, nor was she trying to voice her very real doubts to the authenticity of the claim, but come on.

"Well, the truth usually is stranger than fiction." Shinji managed not to be offended, simply because he had the proof to back it up. He gingerly exposed the scar on his left shoulder from the surgery that was needed to fix his arm. "Not quite as pronounced as it once was, but you can still see it."

"I guess you told the truth." She wasn't admitting defeat, just changing tracks. "So why the sarcasm though?"

"Have you SEEN the state of the world?" He wasn't amused by her changing of the subject. "By refusing to draw away from the world, I could only be confronted by the sheer bold faced stupidity of my fellow man."

"Right." She knew what he meant, as her mind flashed back to a saying the Sub Commander was fond of. "It is sad, but it seems the fires and floods of the Second Impact did nothing to dull the greed and vanity of man." Oops, she didn't mean to quote it out loud.

Silence reigned the rest of the ride, as Shinji became introspective at the unexpected philosophy bit.

/-\ /-\ /-\

In a more expressive world, Shinji's rousing defeat of the Angel would have made him an instant celebrity. But since there was no need to be so over the top from one battle that hadn't been all that impressive anyways, Shinji got to go to school for the first time in his new town without a wide array of reporters hounding him. He was at the school dutifully as expected, even though he carried himself in a manner that screamed out that he felt it and all the people there beneath his notice.

Suzuhara Touji, meanwhile, was having a bad day. The reason for this is the fact that while the shelter where his family was stationed had sustained no damage, he had been kept up by both his sister and his annoying friend. Said annoying friend, one Aida Kensuke, was still complaining about the lack of awesome in the fight between the Evangelion and the Angel.

Touji less than cared, and if not for the class rep hovering nearby, would be in the process of chucking the other boy out the window.

His track suit felt heavy, as though the complaining of his bespectacled chum were weighing him down. He heaved a weary sigh and prayed to whatever supernatural force would listen for salvation. Surprisingly, his prayers were seemingly answered as Shinji sauntered in like he owned the place and was debating evicting everyone else.

"A transfer student?" He asked, well more like yelled to get it in over Kensuke.

"Seriously?" Kensuke said, slowing his rant down to look at the kid who looked about five seconds from fucking someone up. "To this shithole?"

"KENSUKE!" The class rep, a cute freckled girl with an endearing trait for nagging everyone, yelled. Horaki Hikari suddenly loomed like a giant over him, causing him to scream and fall out of his chair.

Shinji laughed for about five minutes at this, finding it funny for some reason.

"Hey!" Kensuke protested someone having a good row at his expense, making sure to wait so the laughing guy could hear him.

"Yeah yeah, save it. I don't care." Shinji simply slipped past the trio into an empty desk and claimed it as his own.

"What a, uh, not nice person." Touji knew it sounded lame, but he didn't need Hikari all up on his shit this morning too.

The rest of the morning was uneventful, majorly because Shinji ignored everyone and focused on class. He was afraid the old man was a horrible teacher, but a master torturer, what with his horrendous accent and droning monotone that made him sound like an angle grinder. Luckily, the lunch bell rang.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Ok Ikari," Touji said as he and Kensuke cornered the pilot outside under a tree enjoying his lunch. "Are you, or are you not the pilot of that purple machine thing?"

"Of course," Shinji said around some rice. "Why else would I want to move to the place getting shit blasted by monsters unless I had to?" His peers, they made him so disappoint.

"I knew it!" Kensuke sounded proud about the most logical explanation being the correct one.

"Yes, because it wasn't blindingly obvious or anything." Shinji was a cold shower on the fires of Kensuke's youth. Touji laughed a little, comforted by the knowledge he could break his nominal friend in half should he get violent about it.

"Damn it, quit making me look bad!" He seemed upset, maybe some tact was in order?

"I take it you haven't seen a mirror lately. What with the huge zit in the middle of your forehead and all." Apparently not, as Shinji jabbed the other kid again.

Kensuke shrieked and fled for a bathroom.

"I should be mad at you for doing that," Touji said, as he stood his ground. "But he kept me up all night going on and on about that fight you had with the monster. So I'll let it slide this time as long as you take it easy on him. He's not stupid, just easily excitable."

"I suppose I could try." Not entirely a lie, he just didn't say how hard he would try.

"And thanks for protecting the shelters like you did. Had you been knocked down, you would have crushed them." Touji totally wasn't trying to ply the new kid with some pretense of gratitude, why would you think that?

"I figured the city had gotten fucked up enough as it was." He didn't take it, but he didn't sass the guy for trying to be civil at least.

Touji looked nervously around, and relaxed when he didn't see Hikari flying in from nowhere at the swear word. During this pause, Kensuke returned a little more subdued and totally sulking.

"That was totally not cool man." Kensuke took his skin care seriously, pimples had no rights except the right to swift and violent death.

"Neither is bugging me at lunch about stuff I don't like talking about." Shinji failed to be apologetic for this misdeed.

"Whatever." Oh NOW he was offended, sheesh.

"Fuck my life." Touji complained, feeling a headache coming on. He didn't react to Hikari appearing from out of nowhere. He ignored her and just continued to look defeated, like someone who knew his life was fucked so hard that he got herpes from it.

"Hey, I got today free." Shinji didn't feel too sorry for the dip in the track suit, but he was looking so damn pathetic he couldn't help but feel the need to cheer him up. "How about we hang out today? I saw an arcade on my way in to town I want to check out."

"Hikari." Touji never called her that at school unless he was having a terrible day. He turned his defeated visage to her and just let her have it. "Just shut the fuck up already, okay?"

The class rep sputtered before turning on her heel and vanishing into the ether from whence she came.

"Wow, I've never seen her move so fast." Kensuke peered around for a bit before he turned back towards Shinji. "So, where's this arcade?"

/-\ /-\/-\

Tuesday. Shinji hated Tuesday. Why, he didn't quite understand but there was something about them that made him angry. So very very angry indeed. As it were, he was at NERV for further Evangelion training, just so he wouldn't get by on the Angel being a total pussy next time.

"Take the pallet rifle and aim for the core." Ritsuko yawned, she'd be up late doing some biological theory with Maya, with a specific care for anatomy. Coffee was ineffective and oddly bland today, must be something wrong with her tongue.

"Okay, let's see how this works." Shinji grabbed the gun, a fully automatic assault rifle from the case hidden inside the building to his left. The Evangelion hefted the rifle and looked at it, the feedback of the Evangelion allowing him to slightly feel the heft and weight of it. A nice, solid gun, as it should be.

"Quit staring at it and fire already." Ritsuko wasn't every patient today, or any day for that matter. On little sleep with bad coffee and it's a minor miracle someone wasn't being shot.

"Two questions come to mind: Where was this when I fought the first time, and why am I expected to know how to use this?" It wasn't his fault his guardians refused to let him near even airsoft guns after the accident.

"You... you've never fired a gun before?" And she would have figured he'd have at least played with a BB gun at least.

"Never." Shinji worried about the twitching that came over Ritsuko, even more so about the choking noise from the back of her throat. It was like she was choking on her own rage.

"Continue the exercise." She canceled the communication to the Evangelion for a second. "Get Misato in here now." Someone was going to explain this bullshit, or someone would die horribly. Her finger briefly ran over the revolver she carried in her lab coat for uppity techs. It was a small comfort, but a comfort nevertheless.

"Aim for the core and fire." Sounds easy enough, maybe the robot would compensate for his lack of skills. He squeezed the trigger, the gun roaring to life as several rounds made their way towards the dummy Angel in front of him. It lost an arm to the inaccurate fire, and Shinji felt a sting of shame. "Mother of twelve bastards, how the hell am I supposed to hit specific shit with this?"

"Okay, okay, so what the hell do you want?" Misato wasn't happy, she had other things to do since there wasn't an Angel to murder.

"Did you know anything about our spare pilot lacking any formal skills in anything related combat?" Stay calm Ritsuko, it's your old stupid friend Misato, it'll be okay. "I could understand a lack of hand to hand training given how scrawny he is, but he apparently has no clue what to do with a gun."

"He missed the core by a mile." Shigeru helpfully added, ducking under the glare directed at him.

"Not even a toy?" Misato found that hard to believe. Most kids Shinji's age had shot tons of shit with BB pellets and other forms of nonlethal munitions by now.

"The Evangelion would cancel most recoil, he wouldn't even feel feedback of the kick of the rifle." Stupid psychosomatic issues, always fucking shit up.

"So you're saying because he believes there will be recoil, he's feeling it even though it wasn't there?" The hell was that bullshit? Misato didn't seem to be thrilled by this development. "We need to get him some formal weapons training then, and if he proves receptive, some actual hand to hand."

"Even if Rei returns, there is no point in discarding him. He seems to be an credible asset." Ritsuko would rather they keep someone who didn't get fucked up by the Evangelion around.

"Uh, hey, sorry to interrupt anything." Shinji had managed to connect to Shigeru, who patched him through. "I got a question: Why are you asking me to accurately fire a fully automatic weapon?"

Ritsuko and Misato both looked like they ate something rotten.

"I'm going to see the Commander about our weapons program." Ritsuko stomped off, rather mad about shit.

"Okay, clean down and meet me outside the lab in about twenty, Shinji." Misato was going to make this kid competent in the art of war, so help her whatever nondenominational entity was listening at the moment.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"I don't get it, did I do that bad?" Shinji asked, rubbing the back of his head, feeling like he screwed up.

"No, you didn't. It's our fault for not making sure you had proper training first." Misato said in way of soothing the boy's rattled nerves. "As such, we're going to the firing range and I'm going to teach you how to fire guns properly."

"Where'd the doctor run off to?" Shinji was apoplectic about this, but if it meant he wouldn't die hardcore against the next menace, the better.

"She's going to talk to your father about the lack of creativity from our weapons division." Misato had a feeling that the nerds in NERV's weapons division spent too much time watching old pre-Second Impact action flicks and not enough time studying actual guns. "Don't worry if you don't pick it up right away, but look at the bright side: with this new training program, you'll be excused from homework."

"What really?" Score one for totally sucking at something for once. "So where are we starting?"

"Gun safety and maintenance," Misato answered, smiling at his apparent enthusiasm. "I'm not putting a gun into your hands until you prove you won't kill yourself with it first."

"I'd pout about that, but there's a very real chance of me doing something stupid with a gun." Like use it like a hammer and almost shoot himself in the balls.

"Then let's begin..."

/-\ /-\ /-\

"It's the fourth Angel!" Makoto announced, as the form of Shamshel slowly made his way towards Tokyo-3. The beam tipped tentacles whipped furiously to take down several fighter craft trying to feed him a bullet sandwich.

"You've been training for this Shinji." Gendo intoned, hands crossed before his face in what some might say was his trademark pose. "Do me proud, son."

"Right, father." Nothing more needed to be said between the pair, an odd bond forming between them since Shinji's arrival.

"Evangelion is ready to launch." Shigeru informed Misato, who nodded.

"Use the regular pallet rifle to take the Angel's measure. Once you're ready, we'll start popping out the toys." Misato said, smirking as she remembered the haste the new guns for the Evangelion had been completed with both Gendo and Ritsuko up their asses.

"Roger that, ma'am. Ikari Shinji, ready to sortie on your mark." The small crash course in guns had instilled a bit of understanding in protocol. Cutting off the comm line, he continued to himself. "I'm going to fuck your shit up buddy. You don't know it yet, but you've just met the King of the Bastards and I will shit in your lungs for trying to destroy this city."

"Launch the Evangelion!"

End Chapter 02

Teaser for Chapter 03 "Right Where You Wanted Me (Feed Me From the Inside)"

The Evangelion surfaced right across from the Angel, arms crossed like it was the bouncer at a high level club. This destroying humanity shit was gonna stop right fucking now, so help me whatever deity was watching over the events. As it were, Shinji wasn't about to let this Angel succeed where Sachiel failed.

"Yo fish head." Shinji muttered as greeting, swiftly arming himself with a provide pallet rifle and pointing it at the Angel. "It's garbage day and I'm the trash man." He opened fire, Shamshel using his tentacles to swat away the burst of bullets in lieu of using his AT-field.

"I think it's showing off." Maya said, eyebrow furrowing at the Angel not using their trademark barrier defense.

"Well, if that's how it wants to play..." Misato left the point hang in the air as she grinned, face morphing in to sheer madness.

"Let's play."

Author's note: Seems like a nice place to stop yes?


	3. Right Where You Wanted Me

Disclaimer: So like, I totally don't own anything that someone else has a copyright okay?

Author note: Hey hey, Reprint 3! Hold onto your hats people, we're just getting rolling.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 3 Right Where You Wanted Me (Feed Me From The Inside)

by Marik Kurakashi

The Evangelion surfaced right across from the Angel, arms crossed like it was the bouncer at a high level club. This destroying humanity shit was gonna stop right fucking now, so help me whatever deity was watching over the events. As it were, Shinji wasn't about to let this Angel succeed where Sachiel failed.

"Yo fish head." Shinji muttered as greeting, swiftly arming himself with a provided pallet rifle and pointing it at the Angel. "It's garbage day and I'm the trash man." He opened fire, Shamshel using his tentacles to swat away the burst of bullets in lieu of using his AT-field.

"I think it's showing off." Maya said, eyebrow furrowing at the Angel not using their trademark barrier defense.

"Well, if that's how it wants to play..." Misato left the point hang in the air as she grinned, face morphing in to sheer madness.

"Let's play." That was Shinji as he started firing again as he moved to gain cover around another empty building. He would do his best not to smash the shit out of the place, but they had to understand that this shit was hard not to break. And if anyone gave him problems for it, he'd probably tell them to go fuck themselves with a rusty razor.

Shamshel blocked in much the same manner, but more frantically as it appear Shinji's next burst was better aimed than the first. Not content to play defense all day, the Angel lashed out with the tentacles, just missing a picture perfect skewer of Unit-01, which rolled to avoid it. He fired mid-roll, rounds clattering harmlessly off the Angel's AT-field.

"Good good, seems like they learned from the first guy." Shinji said, smiling to himself despite the life or death struggle in front of him. "Misato, is the grenade launcher ready?"

"Affirmative, but don't use it carelessly. The grenades will pack a high amount of explosives." Misato responded to his query professionally, even as she felt her spirits soar as Shinji did his training proud.

"Ready it for Weapon House 07. I'm going to take a few more swipes at him before I switch." Shinji responded, he rushed from cover, drawing Shamshel away from House 07 by firing at his face. Tentacles swimming rapidly, the rounds met a swift end as the Angel stalked his prey.

"Switching Weapon Houses 04 and 06 to defense cannons." Maya called, as she swiftly worked to that end.

"Grenade launcher will arrive in 45 seconds!" Shigeru called, monitoring the weapon launch closely. It was only their lives on the line here.

"Collateral damage is zero! All rounds have confirmed to have impacted out of Tokyo-3's limits." Hyuga added, deciding to keep track of how well Shinji did defending Tokyo-3.

"It seemed it was prudent to use the MAGI as firing computers." Fuyutsuki said quietly to Gendo.

"Some might think of it as using a nuclear weapon to mow your lawn, but it's good exercise for them to do something other than probability crunching." Gendo replied, hands clasped before his face, a tone that hinted a parental pride sneaking into his usual frank monotone. His boy was really doing it.

"Ikari, about Rei." Fuyutsuki said, watching the battle with a tiny sliver of hope.

"Ayanami will be placed on Unit-00 upon recovery. If she can't get it to move, then she will be removed from active duty and placed into a back-up role." Gendo was blunt, like an iron club to the face. "My own bias aside, the Third hasn't shown any reason to be removed from Unit-01."

"That he hasn't." Fuyutsuki could only agree as Shinji used the defense cannons to move and acquire the new grenade launcher made for Unit-01. "How did they manage to complete it so fast when it took them so long to finish even a basic rifle?"

"I'm told I can be... persuasive when I am irritated." Gendo's response and smirk of perpetual evil gave the old professor the shakes.

"I-I see." Fuyutsuki cleared his throat to hide his nervousness.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Okay, I have five grenades, so I can't really waste any," Shinji said to himself as he aimed at Shamshel with his new toy. "But I need better firing data if I'm to use this effectively so screw it. I got other guns." A loud thump sounded as he fired the grenade, the artillery's impact against the AT-field pushing the invader from the city borders.

"No damage!" Maya said, doing her job in stating the obvious about the battle. "But the Angel couldn't intercept the round and blocked with its field."

"Field variance holding at 57 clicks." Shigeru reported, using a new term for the frequency at which the AT-field vibrates at. "It seems to have lowered over the course of battle."

"Unit-01 is being kept out of the mesh zone." Hyuga added in, pouring over the data from the battle. "It would seem that the Angel has no desire for a hand to hand encounter."

"Normally, with those tentacles, it'd have a good reach advantage." Misato said, surmising the Angel's battle plan. "But thanks to our training, Shinji is keeping himself armed and able to bombard it from range as well." Another thump signified Shinji's use of a second grenade, and sadly for Shamshel, he was lax in keeping his AT-field up and took it straight to the face. The explosion knocked the Angel over and sent him skidding along the ground.

"Direct hit! Damage is minimal and already being regenerated." Maya said, heart soaring at the sight.

"So they can get cocky." Shinji and Misato unknowingly said together, the former smiling to himself. The latter though kept her features neutral. It wouldn't pay for them to get overconfident either.

"Prepare another pallet rifle and the DMR!" Misato ordered, surprising everyone with the sudden change from letting Shinji go out there and rumble. "We can't get too caught up with this and fall into a trap."

"Understood," Shinji said, the protocol bubbling to the surface again. "Switching to suppression tactics." He set the grenade launcher down and cracked his knuckles. The pallet rifle arrived a moment later, and Shinji took it.

"The DMR will arrive in 5 minutes." Shigeru called, not surprising anyone since it was only finished yesterday.

"Okay Shinji, you have five minutes to play some more, but once the DMR is ready, I expect to to bag this son of a bitch, alright?" Misato said, crossing her arms authoritatively.

"Orders received and acknowledged" he replied, leaping from cover to fire at the just recovered Angel. Tentacles whipped furiously as they cut the rounds down. Boy, Shamshel was pissed now. This had probably been what had gotten Sachiel killed: underestimating their prey.

"Angel is moving erratically." Hyuga supplied this report, using his instruments to track the movements of the tentacles for the MAGI. "It is becoming increasingly agitated and angry."

"Oh no, the big bad Angel is upset with me." Shinji failed to be distressed by this fact. In fact, he thought it was rather funny. "I'm sorry, but I'm not some warrior therapist that you can complain to about how unfair life is and how much you hate your dad." That was what most psychology seemed to boil down to in his opinion.

The beam tipped tentacles failed to pierce the Evangelion's AT-field.

"Don't act like a child." Man, why couldn't he have a cool giant robot nemesis to trade cheesy quips with man? Stupid unintelligible monsters and their growlspeak.

Shamshel scooted forward in a very sulkish manner, as if throwing a tantrum.

"The... the Angel is throwing a fucking hissy fit!" Shigeru summed up nicely, and no one cared that he swore. They were thinking much the same.

"Oh this is too rich!" Shinji said, using the MAGI to properly fire between the tentacles from the approaching Angel and knock it ass over tea kettle again. "Here it is, the greatest threat to mankind and it's throwing a fit like a spoiled teenager!" He laughed heartily at that. Still another minute left until the DMR arrived. "So what's your problem? Horrible acne? Puberty fucking with your head? Maybe you struck out with a hot lady Angel and are just taking your frustrations out on us? Work with me here, this is too funny to not mock."

Shamshel shot back upright and began attacking wildly, as if to say shut the fuck up you asshole.

"Look here, you invade this city, want to kill everyone in it, and expect me to be all accepting of it?" Shinji grabbed the tentacles and yanked the Angel towards him, which he used as momentum to kick it back away from Unit-01. In his head, a bitching guitar solo started up and though he had no clue why, he found he liked it. "It's time I put you down like the rabid menace you are." Just in time for the DMR to slide up into the Weapon House next to him. Because that's just how things work right?

Shamshel managed to get up again, but was barely standing straight now.

"Sorry, but you're gonna have to die now." Shinji wasn't repentant in the least, he was just saying something he figured sounded cool. He aimed the DMR carefully, before he extended the outer layer of his AT-field out far enough to crash into Shamshel's and remove the Angel's last defense.

"He did what?" Hyuga called, shocked as his readings told him the Evangelion still had most of its field.

"Ritsuko did have him read the theories on the AT-field, so he probably picked it up from there." Misato said as way of explanation. She closed her eyes as the series of gunshots rang out, severing Shamshel's tentacles before another shot took it in the core. It all happened so fast it couldn't even prime an on-death explosion like Sachiel, and so left an extremely ugly corpse.

"Tango is down." Shinji said, feeling it appropriate to say.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Sometime after the operation had been successfully completed, Shinji was resting in the pilot's lounge when the door opened, and in stepped a blue haired girl from the Fetish Zone of the Uncanny Valley. She stared him down, covered in bandages all over, as he wondered who she was. While he could admit she looked pretty cute, the way she just appeared gave him the creeps.

"Greetings, Third Child." she said as way of greeting, seeing as how he was too busy squirming under her glare to initiate the meeting. "I am Rei Ayanami, First Child and pilot of Unit-00."

"You're the pilot of that grotesque orange monstrosity?" He didn't mean to sound so surprised. She certainly was as unnerving as that thing was. "I assume you already know my name."

"Ikari Shinji, Third Child and pilot of Unit-01." Rei intoned, glancing at the other pilot, who was dressed in a vague school uniform. As she herself was, as she remembered being dressed this way when the meds wore off.

"So where have you been?" he asked, not as angry as he thought he'd be at the pilot whose accident brought him to NERV in the first place.

"Convalescing from injuries sustained in syncing with Unit-00." she answered smoothly. Perfect diction too, nice. "You should consider yourself fortunate, the Evangelion are touchy creatures."

"So I've heard." He sounded rather dubious, which annoyed her somehow. Who was he to doubt her? "Well, it'll be nice to have some help from now on. I'll be counting on you."

"You mean to stay on?" She was rarely surprised, but hearing him essentially say as much put off her preconceived notions of him. "As the more experienced pilot, it would be better if I took Unit-01's reigns for now and allow you to retire. You have been a helpful stand in, but I am better now." Was it Shinji, or did she sound almost... desperate to get rid of him?

"More experienced? You haven't seen live combat and you took seven months to properly sync with Unit-00, which by the way congratulated you on your success by trying to kill you." He was as astounded as he sounded. Cute or not, nice rack or not, he wasn't about to let some blue haired freak chick push him out the damn door, not after being so reckless as to force him into service. "I, meanwhile, have killed two Angels without a hit in return. Oh and Unit-01 hasn't tried to kill me on any of my attempts to sync with it. I don't know if you hit your head at some point, but I'm the main pilot on Project E and you're MY wingman. You're either going to sync properly with Unit-00 or you're MY back-up." Oh shit son, no he did NOT just say all that. "And these orders are from my father, the Commander." Well that was unnecessary twisting of the knife, you asshole.

"The... the Commander ordered this?" Oh shit, she was freaking out now. The whole emotionless thing was a facade, what lurks in the true heart of Rei Ayanami?

"Yep." Shinji was failing to be sympathetic or even the tiniest bit tactful. Well to be fair, she was being a self-important bitch earlier. "Sorry if you thought you'd wake up from your vacation and just kick me out. This is my show now and you're just a support character now. Deal with it." He left the room with that, and in doing so missed the absolutely furious look on Rei's face.

/-\ /-\ /-\

A few days after the confrontation between the two pilots, Rei was well enough to try and sync with Unit-00 again. It went as usual, a lot of slow build up that bored the shit out of everyone watching it. The ratio climbed like tortoise with four broken legs until it hit the sweet spot, upon which Unit-00 unsurprisingly went crazy and thrashed in its restraints.

"Spirit of the Evangelion, listen to me and listen well." Rei said as the ratio shot through the roof. Her eyes glowed red and her tone took on freezing properties. "You have been a nuisance and hindrance to me in the past, and I have allowed you your childishness before. But now, I am no longer in the mood to cater to your whims and I will not take your shit anymore."

Unit-00 thrashed again, but could do nothing to bring harm to its pilot.

"Spirit of the Evangelion, my name is Rei Ayanami, one of many who would claim that name as theirs. But I AM the Rei here and now, the one who says this name is mine alone. The Rei Ayanami before you is about to embark on the path to glory and you will be my steed. The Unit-00 is now MINE but I will allow you to stay on my property and join me in my journey to victory."

The Evangelion slowly stopped thrashing as Rei overrode the soul within it.

"But if the light of victory is too bright for you, I will give unto you a darkness that borders on infinity." Boy she was really going, with no sign of slowing down. "I am Rei Ayanami, The First Child. And I claim this Unit-00 as my domain and you are trespassing on my turf. If you seek to hinder me, I will obliterate you. If you decide to rebel against me, I will devour your essence whole as you are no longer necessary to this Unit's function! I AM THE CLOSEST THING TO A GOD ANY OF THESE PEOPLE WILL KNOW AND AS THAT GOD, MY ORDERS ARE ABSOLUTE."

Unit-00 glowed brilliantly for a second before it dimmed, while still obscuring the Evangelion from the eyes of the observers.

"Fufufufufuufufu, I see your desire of self preservation has won out over your desire of freedom. Very well, Spirit of Evangelion, you are now my first disciple. Mark yourself with my color and speak to the world the Advent of Rei Ayanami!"

The crew gaped in horror as they took in the sight.

"What the hell did she do?" Hyuga cried, looking at Unit-00 with eyes wide.

Upon her wicked throne, the wretched blood of Rei sang in her veins as she threw her head back and laughed in triumph. The Evangelion had turned blue.

End Chapter 03

Teaser for Chapter 4 "Turn Away From the Ones, Who Hurt Everyone":

"The Fifth Angel has appeared!" Maya reported, having just detected the blue signal. "It appears to be stationary 45 kilometers outside of Tokyo-3."

"Get Rei and Shinji ready, we're using the emergency launch tubes to go and say hi." Misato ordered as everyone scrambled to get the Evangelion ready for battle.

"Is there a reason for it to stop?" Shigeru asked, perplexed by this change in usual attitude, which was to charge headlong for the city.

"I hope it isn't because it can attack from there." Hyuga said, before his eyes bugged out as the realization sunk in.

"We'll begin monitoring the Angel for signs of hostility and do our best to ascertain its fighting capabilities!" Maya called, as the bridge crew went nuts with their own prep.

"Welcome to NERV, where everyone here is the best there is at what they do."

Author note: And that's three done. See ya for 4 soon.


	4. Turn Away From the Ones

Disclaimer: Yeah, still don't own anything. One day Anno! ONE DAY!

Author note: The beginning of this chapter will feature a lot of pointless fluff and as such, if you want to skip past it, just use the find function and look of the Fifth Angel. If you want to read it all, please do, but don't complain if it sucks or it isn't as funny as (insert terrible Evangelion fanfic you like.) That said, let's get to it, Ramiel will be appearing this time. Hurray for beam spam.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 4 Turn Away From the Ones, Who Hurt Everyone

by Marik Kurakashi

And so, time passed after the defeat of Shamshel, and Shinji settled into the routine boredom of school. Most everyone thanked him for his defense of the city and left it at that, though Kensuke was a bit over the top in his gratitude for showing them the true might of a giant robot. He hadn't meant to laugh, but the endlessly reverent expression just seemed so hilarious.

His training schedule eased up, allowing him the occasional bit of free time, which he spent hanging with Touji and Hikari, with Touji's shadow Kensuke lurking about. The class rep was the very definition of a well meaning girl, if you could get past her unending henpecking.

To say nothing of how awkward things had become since Ayanami had finally been cleared to return to class.

Whatever happened after their first meeting, she didn't seem to be taking it well. Shinji thought Rei would be happy that she successfully synced with her Evangelion, but it appeared he was incorrect in that assumption. There was something... angry to her demeanor that hadn't been there before, as though she stopped pretending to be a robot and started acting like a fourteen year old girl.

Of course, this new attitude reignited the loser portion of the school once again harass her for dates. No place on the campus was safe for her to avoid being propositioned, not even the girl's locker room. It appears that the end of the world loosened the moral standards that used to govern the world, much to Rei's continued consternation.

Shinji found it all to be quite hilarious really, which is why he was running at the moment from an angry Ayanami in arduous pursuit.

"Come on, why would I convince several girls to ask you out?" This was mostly facetious posturing, as he had done this as a joke. He didn't know they were serious, the sick things people get off on. Not that he would blame them, but she was only fun to be around if you cracked her I'm a robot, beep beep shell.

"Because you're a shallow individual with the shame of an exhibitionist." Rei wasn't happy, keep running Shinji!

"You know how to hurt a guy." Verbally, though physically wasn't too much of an issue either. That poor kid in 2-C, he'd never walk right again.

"I get a lot of practice." She smiled at that, but it was anything but friendly. In fact, she seemed almost feral in her demeanor.

"Do you now? You sure get around, Ayanami." Shinji wasn't the type to stop digging once he was in a hole, no sir. If there was a hole to be dug, he dug with all his might. Tact was a word people used to lecture him about.

"Ikari." Oh. Oh shit.

"I think I may have gone too far." Mostly to himself as he ducked under the ballistic missile Rei had become figuratively and rolled to avoid the rubble as she demolished part of the wall. "This is normally the part I'd ask if she's okay, but I don't ask questions I know the answer to."

Indeed, as Rei emerged from the wreckage, eyes all a glow. She looked pretty freaky like that, but Shinji wasn't the type to be afraid of a little bit of harmless light. The First Child dramatically strutted from the wreckage, dust billowing around her.

"Having fun, Ayanami?" Shinji asked with a teasing smirk on his face. So many people enjoyed so many bits of pointless theatrics.

"A little, yeah." Man, she had to slow down soon, or else her motor would get running too hot, and who knows what'd she do then.

"Good good, I wouldn't want to bore you." Majorly because she was too fun to tease, so he had to keep her attention. "But, sad to say, we should stop before there is no school left."

"You'd just _hate_ that wouldn't you." Cooling down, Rei walked over to stand beside Shinji.

"Oh yeah, I just **love** to study." It was a half truth, he liked to study guns and other weapons, as well as learn more about the Evangelion. But school work? Man, fuck that noise.

"So, you don't have any training after school today." Rei did have that annoying habit of trying to pick up a conversation dropped hours ago. But she had blue hair, so people let it pass.

"Yup, and I got a great idea for what to do today." Shinji was picking up his father's knack for annoyingly cryptic remarks.

"Oh? I don't recall playing arcade games until Misato-san drags you home being a great idea." Rei kept pace with Shinji's habitual snarking it seemed. Two could definitely play this game.

"Hmph. I suppose I deserved that." Shinji said, eyebrow twitching, before he produced a set of tickets from his pocket. "Tell me Ayanami, have you ever heard about the Games Workshop Island?"

/-\ /-\ /-\

"You... you're kidding me." Kensuke said, words failing him as Shinji held up the Holy Grail of Nerds: a ferry ticket to Games Workshop Island. "How did you get that?"

"I brought them off the E-Net. The ferry company recently had some for sale, so I brought some." Well, Misato was kind enough to help him figure out how to do it, but he didn't need to say it.

"You're shitting me man, the E-Net boards would be exploding right now if there were tickets for this." Kensuke wasn't trying to play the skeptic, but he hated being one upped by Ikari.

"Sweet, let's get going then." Touji interrupted the proceedings by taking the first ticket in Shinji's hand. "I don't know much about this place, but it sounds like a lot of fun."

"Before you complain, there's a ticket for you too." Shinji didn't like the looks of Kensuke's reaction, as it looked like the glasses wearing boy had turned to stone.

"You're my best friend." Kensuke snapped out of his fugue and took the proffered ticket.

"I know, right?" Shinji didn't comment past that and turned to Rei. "And one for you too Ayanami."

"While I doubt you have gentlemanly aspirations, I assume this is because you want to ensure I can't snitch on you for leaving Japan." She took the ticket, if only because she didn't want him to die before she could prove herself to him.

"And that's all the tickets, so let's get going." Someone was certainly enthusiastic.

/-\ /-\ /-\

The ferry set out from port a small amount of time later, the four passengers being the only ones on this trip, lucky them. This of course meant that they had the entire boat to themselves, save the crew naturally. And so, here they were on deck, stretching out and settling in for the ride to come.

"So what is the Games Workshop thing anyways?" Touji asked, deciding to figure out if he even wanted to get off the boat when they reached shore again.

"Touji, you!" Kensuke didn't get to finish his admonishment because Shinji socked him in the gut. "Gah!"

"Yelling at him won't do anything you dip." Shinji shook his hand and turned to Suzuhara and took a deep breath. "Games Workshop was a company in Great Britain that produced tabletop games, focusing mostly on the grim and dark future in the year 40, 000. I say was because at some point before Second Impact, they apparently had the building remodeled to withstand global flooding."

"And by withstand, he means float away instead of swept under." Kensuke recovered from the blow and decided to help the lecture out. "The E-net story of it all is that writing of a time in the far future where peace was a foreign concept made them properly paranoid. So when global warming was all a flutter in the news, they had the place restructured to become an island."

"The crazy part is that it worked and they found themselves floating about the ocean for a while. Rumors say that they had started staffing engineers and other worker types that would help keep the island compound going for a while. For example, shortly after they started out, they somehow figured out how to motorize their land and keep it moving at a steady clip. It's how they've been able to become a tourist spot the world over." Shinji picked up for Kensuke as walked along the length of the deck, drawing Touji and Rei in to the picture the two were painting.

"Even crazier is how they've pulled stuff from their game fluff and started putting it to work. The security on the island is done solely by Space Marines, with semi-legit Bolters to use for unruly visitors. Most of the security force are formerly guards and they deny rumors of them picking up mercenaries to fill out the ranks with crazier members." Kensuke jumped in again, seeing as Shinji was pausing to consider what else to say.

"It's become a sort of Nerd Mecca, simply because beyond Games Workshop, Wizards of the Coast and several other tabletop companies have set up shop on the place, giving anyone who wants to play say, Dungeons and Dragons, a place to go instead of the Workshop itself. They deny that Gary Gygax was on the island, or that he is buried somewhere on it, but the E-net persists in the rumor." Shinji paused and held up a hand, showing that he was going to continue. "Anyways, I went here a couple years ago with my guardians, but I wasn't allowed to do much. They were oddly protective of me after an accident when I was younger. I'm looking forward to this."

"Man, that's lame. Half the point of going here is to cosplay with the guards and even sit in on a game with the staff. It's even better when they let you take part in a Replay." Kensuke found he hated Shinji's guardians after a fashion. To take him to Games Workshop Island and not let him play? What a bunch of dicks.

"A Replay?" Rei asked, curious as to what that is.

"A live action skit of a previously done campaign. " Kensuke answered, seeing as he brought it up. "So if they had an awesome story they did previously, you could act it out."

"I read on the E-net the current Replay scheduled for the Workshop is the Heresy." Shinji slipped in, causing Kensuke to flip out even more.

"Is he going to be okay?" Rei asked in a passive tone, indicating she was asking to be polite.

"His nerd senses have overloaded, he'll be fine." Touji sounded confident that Kensuke would be okay, so that was enough for the other two.

"We should be on land in a short while, so get ready. We'll be here a couple hours." That was all Shinji said as sat down and kicked back.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Five hours later, Shinji and company exited the ferry, decked out in full Space Marine regalia. Even Rei, who despite her initial misgivings had wound up having the most fun. Their Airsoft Bolters slung over shoulder, they jokingly sang songs of the Emperor as they were met by Misato.

"I suppose you had a lot of fun?" She didn't seem upset, which was largely due to how they looked.

"Oh man, it was great. Ayanami even kicked a guy in the balls when he badmouthed her for being small." Shinji beamed at his blue haired companion, who smirked back.

"He was asking for it." She tried not to sound to snotty, but it was hard when the guy did deserve it.

"The Emperor guides us all... to a good time." Kensuke chuckled to himself, hefting the fake weapon off his shoulder to look at it. "Man, this was such a blast."

"I had a lot of fun. If we get the chance, we should do this again." Touji had been skeptical of the experience, up until he got into it with someone playing an Ork. And then he had such an awesome time, he was the last one on the boat.

"Well, let's get all of you home," Misato said, just shaking her head. "And Shinji? We'll have to find a place you can keep that. It looks good on you."

"I told you guys, I make this look good." And with that, they all busted out laughing.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"The Fifth Angel has appeared!" Maya reported, having just detected the blue signal. "It appears to be stationary 45 kilometers outside of Tokyo-3."

"Get Rei and Shinji ready, we're using the emergency launch tubes to go and say hi." Misato ordered as everyone scrambled to get the Evangelion ready for battle.

"Is there a reason for it to stop?" Shigeru asked, perplexed by this change in usual attitude, which was to charge headlong for the city.

"I hope it isn't because it can attack from there." Hyuga said, before his eyes bugged out as the realization sunk in.

"We'll begin monitoring the Angel for signs of hostility and do our best to ascertain its fighting capabilities!" Maya called, as the bridge crew went nuts with their own prep.

"Welcome to NERV, where everyone here is the best there is at what they do." Misato sounded pretty proud of them, as she didn't have to even suggest it. "And to you, Mr. Fifth Angel, we're not going to be very nice."

"Misato, the Evangelion are ready to launch." Ritsuko called, entering the bridge to deliver the news. And to watch her kohai do her thang for once.

"Launch them in a staggered formation, and make sure we have armaments ready for them!" It was showtime again. Misato tensed, even though the launch wasn't there. Some things just become a habit.

"Relax Misato, you're about to jump out of your skin." Ritsuko tried to diplomatically calm the Captain's mind.

"It's just, this Angel isn't behaving like the two before and it's annoying the hell out of me." That and Rei and Shinji hadn't had much training together, so this would be their first co-op sortie.

"Have faith in them Misato, Shinji's saved us all from impossible situations before. And Ayanami is there too." Ritsuko didn't voice her own doubts, as they would be inappropriate at the moment.

"Make sure they know the emergency evacuation point," Misato ordered, resolving to give her a way to relax a bit. "The Angel isn't here yet, so we should be able to regroup should it get to hairy. I won't let their stupid pride jeopardize this mission."

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Contact in 45 seconds, Ikari." Rei's voice flickered over the radio, helping Shinji relax. The Evangelion gripped to its rifle tightly, ready for action once more.

"Roger that Ayanami, let's get this son of a bitch." Shinji gripped the controls as he did his best to focus on the task at hand.

"Surfacing in five, four, three, two, one!" And with that, both Evangelion Units popped out of the ground in front of Ramiel. A sequence of lights flashed along the Angel's body, a curious diamond cube shape.

"I see, so it appears to have been waiting on us." Shinji wasn't sure how he understood it, but there was something beneath the surface of the meaningless gesture. Shinji immediately broke away from Rei and circled to the left of Ramiel, as Rei herself circled to the Angel's right.

"Ikari, I will enter the mesh zone and lower his field, use the time to do damage. We'll rotate as we learn his abilities." Rei charged forward and deployed her AT-field, the wavelengths meshing together and falling apart.

"I got a shot." Shinji said as protocol demanded, firing a small burst that clattered off the body of the massive Angel. "Hide is extremely tough, may need better rounds to penetrate." Shinji replaced Rei in the mesh zone, deploying his field to keep the Angel's barrier down.

"I'm swapping out to armor piercing rounds." Rei quickly reloaded her own rifle before pounding a burst into the body of Ramiel. The fortress sized beast laughed before a light began to shine of his front.

"Damage is minimal but a large energy signature is coming from the Angel!" Maya said, eyes bugging out as she took it in. "Positron reaction confirmed! Watch out!"

"Oh you have got to be shitting me." Rei said as she backed away and put up her AT-field to full charge. The field managed to hold under the strain of the beam, but the super heated air was messing with her system. "Shit, what the hell is this?"

"LCL temperature in Unit-00 is rising rapidly, initiating emergency coolant!" Hyuga called, hammering the command in.

"Ayanami, are you okay?" Shinji called, as Rei got control again. He looked desperately up as Ramiel swiveled his cannon point at Unit-01. "Oh fuck me!" He rapidly hopped back out of the mesh zone, Ramiel's AT-field no longer suppressed as it sprang back to life. The light intensified as it did so, meaning that the suppression had kept the last shot down.

"Positron emission has spiked! The AT-field is also some kind of enhancer!" Shigeru cried, covering his eyes.

"Ikari, hold on!" Rei shouted, charging Unit-00 back into the mesh zone and lowering the power of the shot dramatically.

"Shit! This is going bad!" Shinji yelled, projecting the field farther away from the Evangelion in hopes to avoid getting boiled.

"When did you first notice it Shinji?" Ritsuko mused on the bridge, smirking to herself. "When did you start to understand the limit of the AT-field is the mind of the person projecting it?"

"The AT-field is nothing but Domain Control, that's what you said right?" Misato asked, unsure of what Ritsuko was saying.

"Correct, it is nothing more than the force of will upon reality. This is but a tip of the power of the Evangelion." Ritsuko smiled as she watched Shinji deflect the shot rather than smother it. That mountain wasn't important anyways.

"Ayanami, if you have to defend a shot, project the field away from you. The field isn't tied to the body!" Shinji was desperate now, as he tossed aside his rifle and flexed the Unit's hands. "How long until you can get me some artillery?"

"Three minutes, Shinji!" Maya answered, already getting the order out to send the grenade launcher to him.

"Thanks. We might just get this bastard." Shinji calmly sized up the passive Angel and found his blood burning in his veins. "I'm going to fuck you up."

"I'm leaving the mesh zone," Rei called, backing away and retrieving her own field. Shinji dutifully took her place, keeping Ramiel's field suppressed.

"Just got to wait for better weapons." Shinji called, not even reacting to Rei's useless fire. "Two and a half minutes to go." He flexed the Unit's fingers and watched as Rei did her best to keep it occupied. She blocked a shot as he had instructed, preventing any collateral damage to the unit via heat.

"I hope this is worth it," Rei muttered, watching as several auto-defense turrets sprang to life in a bid to hasten the end of Ramiel's. They were summarily destroyed in a display of rapid firepower.

"So it isn't stuck on single fire." Shinji filed that away for later, not sure how it'd be used. Another minute and he'd have his grenade launcher. "At least we're holding our own for now."

"So it seems, Ikari." Rei's voice didn't waver as she kept the Angel's attention on her. Sure she wasn't doing much, but you keep chipping away and even a mountain can crumble to dust. She blocked another shot and started to get into the battle a little more.

"Grenade launcher in five, four, three, two, one and gotcha!" Shinji caught the weapon as it sprang forth from the ground. "Okay, let's switch Ayanami!"

"Roger!" Unit-00 moved into the mesh zone as Unit-01 rotated out. Shinji raised the grenade launcher and let loose a mighty thump, the grenade exploding against the side of Ramiel.

"Damage is still low, but the explosion has shifted the Angel's posture slightly." Hyuga reported, scratching his head as they tried to figure out how to win.

"Another for you!" Shinji yelled, letting loose another round of the launcher, which crashed into the side of Ramiel, seemingly as useless as before. Ramiel responded by firing a quick beam, forcing Shinji to drop his weapon to defend himself. As the beam intensified against his field, Shinji responded by flexing the shield and beginning to capture the beam.

"Is... is he catching that?" Shigeru sputtered, not believing what was happening on the screen in front of him. Then, the beam guttered away. "Did it understand what Shinji was doing?"

"Another reaction is happening in the Angel!" Maya called, before she pounded her console. "It's targeting Rei!"

"No, I have to pull back!" Rei called, moving to reclaim her AT-field, Ramiel's snapping back to life.

"Shit!" Shinji threw what he had gathered at Ramiel, but it was too late. The Angel's AT-field easily caught the shot, absorbed it, and then fired it back at Shinji without letting up on Rei at all.

"That son of a bitch, he saw through it all!" Hyuga swore, pounding his console in frustration as well. Was there nothing they could do?

"Order the Evangelion to retreat once they've finished defending themselves. There's no point in wasting our time further." Misato's face was a mask of utter shame and fury, as she realized they had overestimated themselves in this battle. "We need to come up with a better plan."

Both Units finished defending the shots, staring hard at the Angel when the order came. Both reacted terribly, and a lot of colorful language was used. After a short pause, both Evangelion retreated from the field, the pilots within seething at their defeat. Nothing else was said as they entered the escape tunnels, as both Units slumped against a wall, reflecting the drain on the pilots.

"Next, we're going to kill him so far beyond dead that we'll need a new word for how dead he is." Shinji looked over at Unit-00 and by extension Rei. "As long as you're with me."

"I won't leave this to you. I will not bow to this fucker at all." Rei forced the Evangelion to stand, and extended a hand. "As long as you're with me as well, Ikari... no, Shinji."

"Of course, Rei. I won't run away from him again. Never again." Unit-01 took the hand, and Shinji's smile was matched by Rei's.

End Chapter 04

Teaser for Chapter 05 "I Will Shut the World Away":

"So, it would seem we have suffered a setback." Gendo Ikari stated this obvious factoid in his usual gruff and frigid manner. No one dared to speak out against this, as he usually took criticism with grace, followed by a retort in the form of a bullet to the head.

"Mm, yes." Fuyutsuki decided to engage the conversation as he knew Gendo was speaking to him. "The Fifth's abilities were beyond our estimations and we went in ill prepared. Misato is currently using the MAGI to help her concoct an actual battle plan."

"Any input from the pilots?" Not that he figured they had anything really good to supply, he was simply taking the conversation to the obvious points.

"Ah, Shinji suggested just dropping N2 mines on the Angel until it was reduced to glowing ash." To say nothing of what Rei suggested. Fuyutsuki shuddered violently for a second.

"I see, Shinji does take after a Yui a bit." Gendo chuckled to himself.

"Uh... what?"

Author note: And that's four. Don't mind the filler at the beginning, it was simply because I didn't feel like expanding the battle too much. And hey, after 5, Asuka will be here. Yay.


	5. I Will Shut the World Away

Disclaimer: I own nothing. But hey, if you can, you should support official releases of anime here, so companies like Genon and ADV stop biting the dust. Up to you.

Author note: Chapter 5, the battle with Ramiel looks to intensify, and maybe even finish? Well, we'll see. Let's do this.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 5 I Will Shut the World Away

by Marik Kurakashi

Units-00 and 01 had finally returned to base, their pilots still seething at their perceived failure. It was almost cute that they expected to win every single time they fought, but it was almost annoying. Ritsuko took charge to move them away from any planning session, especially in light of Shinji screaming to chuck N2 mines at Ramiel until the very idea of it had been killed.

Gendo Ikari, the nominal commander of this little shindig, was sitting off by himself with Fuyutsuki, watching the proceeds with his trademark cool. He had sat down off to the side since the order to withdraw had been issued, unnerving everyone with his silence. Fuyutsuki had decided to try and break the quiet between them when Gendo silenced him with a raised hand.

"So, it would seem we have suffered a setback." Gendo Ikari stated this obvious factoid in his usual gruff and frigid manner. No one dared to speak out against this, as he usually took criticism with grace, followed by a retort in the form of a bullet to the head.

"Mm, yes." Fuyutsuki decided to engage the conversation as he knew Gendo was speaking to him. "The Fifth's abilities were beyond our estimations and we went in ill prepared. Misato is currently using the MAGI to help her concoct an actual battle plan."

"Any input from the pilots?" Not that he figured they had anything really good to supply, he was simply taking the conversation to the obvious points.

"Ah, Shinji suggested just dropping N2 mines on the Angel until it was reduced to glowing ash." To say nothing of what Rei suggested. Fuyutsuki shuddered violently for a second.

"I see, Shinji does take after a Yui a bit." Gendo chuckled to himself.

"Uh... what?" That didn't sound like the Yui the old professor knew.

"You only met her after she calmed down. I knew Yui from our younger days and she had a habit of oddly invective statements." Gendo openly laughed in a manner approaching warmth but only served to scare anyone listening in. "I don't know what she meant by fucking someone with a Zamboni but I try not to picture it."

"That does sound like she had a temper, yes." Understatement of the moment award goes to Kouzo Fuyutsuki! Luckily, Gendo didn't give him the grand prize of a bullet to the stomach, so he had to settle for Gendo talking some more. Joy.

"Mmm, did you know that the Committee contacted me yesterday?" Of course he didn't, he never let the old man know when he was talking to them.

"No. What say our benefactors in the shadows?" The UN would string them both up by the balls if the found out that the Committee was really a secret organization named SEELE that helped cause Second Impact.

"Just an update on the Scenario." Quick and frank... wait, did he sound disgusted to say the word 'Scenario'? Curious.

"It appears to be flying ahead of schedule doesn't it?" Ah yes, Fuyutsuki didn't know the Real Scenario did he?

"Indeed. At least, theirs is." Gendo's sudden slasher smile sent chills down his mentor's spine. "You see, Professor, the real goal of NERV is to gain vengeance on SEELE for their hubris in attempting to piggyback humankind to godhood."

"But Third Impact...!" Fuyutsuki was nearly choking on his tongue here. Sweat creased his brow as fear coursed through his veins.

"My dear mentor, do you really think that such a thing could actually work? Forcibly reuniting mankind back into the 18th Angel Lilim would do nothing for what you or I hope. If we look at it like this, what is a 'person' but a separate part of Lilim created by the AT-field? How would removing that barrier that keeps 'me' from merging with 'you' allow us to understand who is 'Yui'? The only way for us to tell that difference is to keep apart like we are now. And Yui? **Still dead**." Gendo wound down, looking angrily forward, his frank dismissal of what had been his mission for years dropping the jaw of his audience.

"I... I have no words." He really didn't, as he swallowed to wet his dry throat.

"Secondly, it won't do what SEELE wants it to either. Yui, in her study of the Second Impact phenomena, stated that the effect of the unleashing of the First was to have obliterated the barriers between us all, but failed due to distance. She surmised a better located Third Impact could do what the one before it failed, but also said that if people cling to themselves hard enough that they'd resist the merging and retain themselves. SEELE wants to use it to weed out the 'weak' right? Leave the 'strong' to survive and flourish without the 'weak' to weigh them down. But who clings to the self more: the 'weak' who needs others or the 'strong' who generally live by their strength?"

"Neither, they have the same desire to live." Fuyutsuki was starting to see what Gendo was saying.

"_Exactly_. If all it takes to break away from Lilim is to cling to life, then everyone would reemerge as themselves, no better or worse from the experience. In fact, Yui even suggested that people would simply dismiss the sensations of Third Impact as a nightmare and forget it. Nothing would change."

"My lord, you're right." It was scary to hear the normally dogmatic Commander of NERV so practical in his logic.

"Thirdly, the odds continue to improve for its success. Now, I know you'd think that'd be an encouraging sign, but look at Shinji's success against the Third and Fourth: his odds of failure greatly outweighed his odds of success. And yet, he succeeded. Probability is nothing but guesswork, as we try to predict what is to happen based on absolute hypotheticals. It seems to me that the more the odds are against something, all the myriad ways shit can go bad wind up canceling each other out."

"That's some loaded logic you're using Ikari." Well it was. What else was he to say, especially since he's the rational one here?

"Probability is a loaded ideology, after all, Rei and Shinji combined for great odds from the MAGI and there's still an Angel coming. Oops?" It proved nothing, just letting the other man know what he was thinking.

"I suppose." He didn't, but he didn't feel like arguing it.

"On a different subject, did you ever wonder what went wrong with the First experiment?" Gendo crossed his hands in front of his face in that evil thinker pose he did so well. Oh boy, this isn't going to be pretty.

"Wasn't it just that the First was too strong to contain?" That was the official line.

"If that were true, they'd have never isolated it in the first place. And we wouldn't have our dear Captain Katsuragi around to come up with our plans for us." And now, here comes the bombshell. "It was sabotaged."

"But who would do that?" Well, considering only Misato survived the First's escape, who do you think?

"Me." It was meant to sound confident and evil with all that good stuff behind them. Instead, it sounded almost guilty. "SEELE hadn't upgraded past conspiratorial bogeyman, so they were looking for someone who was willing to help them gain a foothold on the world's power scale. The idea of Second Impact was allegedly hidden in the Dead Sea Scrolls, so they were wanting someone to make it happen. I neither accepted or approved at first, but my silence drove them to desperation and I was promised a tenth of the collective gross national product of the member nations. That's America, the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, France and previously China, the representative of which got killed in the world war following Second Impact. Just to restate, one _tenth_ of the **collective** gross national product of the member nations."

"You... you killed two billion people and ruined the world for money?" Fuyutsuki was beyond galled by this.

"Pretty much yeah." And even Gendo was ashamed.

"You... you... you **MONSTER**." Wow, the old man had a set of lungs on him.

"I was young and stupid, as opposed to old and stupid, but I let my infatuation with Yui get the better of me." Man, he was really letting it out now.

"You... you did it to impress Yui?" Fuyutsuki was making a strangle your ass motion with his hands.

"The money, not the Second Impact was for her. In hindsight, I could have just gotten an extra job." At this point, Fuyutsuki slugged Gendo in the face as hard as his old bones could manage.

"Oh... oh dear, I lost myself there." He didn't sound as apologetic as that may look.

"It's alright. I deserved that and probably a lot more." Gendo wiped the blood away and smiled almost jovially. "Nice right there by the way."

"Thanks, I think." Fuyutsuki rubbed his fist a bit. Fucker had an iron jaw.

"I'm really pathetic you know? I let my stupid obsession with Yui cloud my judgment and then I send away my son because I knew I'd be horrible to him." Seems it was opening up day at the Gendo's deep personal feelings store and they weren't done giving out free shit.

"In your defense, you haven't done a bad job since he's return. He's even called you Dad in a casual manner, rather than the stiff lipped father." He didn't feel sorry for Gendo in the least, even less than before now that he knew what the man before him had done.

"I suppose, but I know I'd have smothered him if I didn't send him away." Gendo shook his head and smiled ruefully. "In a way, he's the enduring legacy of Yui, more so than Rei when I think about it."

"Isn't Rei made from Yui's DNA though?" Fuyutsuki hated cloning, if only because he really didn't like thinking about it.

"Yeah, it's true I used Yui's DNA to be combined into Lilith's to clone her. It didn't take, as seen by Rei instead of Yui. It's apparently impossible to perfectly clone someone." He shook his head. "In fact, if you ran a DNA test on Rei, you wouldn't get any genetic markers of Yui at all."

"So Ayanami is..?" Fuyutsuki looked dubious at all this. It was in fact his default expression when talking to Gendo.

"A separate entity born from the return of a child to the progenitor." Gendo shrugged and turned to leave the bridge. "That's what science tells me anyways."

Fuyutsuki let him walk away at that, not wanting to discuss the topic further.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"I wasn't paying attention early, so explain this Operation Yashima to me." Shinji wasn't going to admit he had been to busy growling about how bad he was going to kill Ramiel the next time they fought.

"As the Captain laid out, we'd wait for it to stop again and attack it from outside of its reach." That didn't explain why they had to wait around for another three hours before heading up a damn mountain somewhere. "The Captain said she was acquiring the centerpiece of the operation: An experimental positron cannon and a shuttle shield."

"We have one of those?" Those uppity nerds in R & D were holding out on him again. Fuckers.

"No, it was made by the JSSDF." Rei herself was steamed by the idea that such a weapon wasn't in their arsenal already. "She's going to take it from them by writ of the UN and Tokyo-3's council." Just what Japan would want, the UN mad at them again. Tokyo-2's still smoldering crater was an ugly reminder.

"Nice. I'd almost want to be there for that." If only to cuss them out for being so damn selfish.

"The shuttle shield will allegedly protect one of us from Ramiel's beam." Neither of them believed that, what with barely holding it back with their AT-fields. "The decision of who will shoot and who will defend any possible counter offense is still being decided."

"I'd probably be better for shooting than protecting. If I got attacked, I'd want to be able to fight back, so I would probably die charging it like a goon." A shocking admission of fault from the previously cocky pilot.

"I suppose. My training has yet to cover long range combat." That and it would allow her to ensure his survival. She still hadn't made him eat his words from earlier.

"All I need is the one shot that will be provided to me. I won't miss his core." He frowned for a second, before turning around and heading for the lounge's exit. "We got time, let's see if the Doc can run some simulations for us."

"You want to see for yourself the likely outcomes of this operation." Not a question, as she knew the answer.

"Well, the fate of the city and possibly the world is at stake here, why should I hope I get lucky?" It was obvious this was being treated as a luck based mission and Shinji wasn't going to play that. "I'm not leaving my life to chance like that." He continued out of the room, missing the slight blush that crept across Rei's face for a second.

"For a moment, he seemed so like..." Rei bit that off and sauntered after the Third Child.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Up the mountain where they'd be ready to kill Ramiel from now, there was approximately 45 minutes to the mission start time. Both Rei and Shinji sat in their respective Evangelion, not wanting to sit out in the open for some reason that escaped them. Unit-00 bore the Shuttle Shield in front of it, the titan in orange looking like a giant riot policeman. Unit-01 was standing by the Positron cannon, set up like a sniper rifle.

"This is it, Ayanami. I'm counting on you for the plan." Shinji's eyes were forward, as if he could see Ramiel in the distance.

"I will not fail, you will have your shot." Rei too stayed focus on Ramiel, least her underlying emotions take her out of the mood.

"I'm gonna kill this fucker beyond dead, and then I will stand on top of its corpse and pose for all the world to see." So he was still mad about their last encounter, who wouldn't be?

"I wish I could take the shot, so I could feel the thrill of killing that bastard." And so was Rei. Not good for Ramiel, who by the way, had just entered the outskirts of Tokyo-3, feeling pretty good.

"Next invincible floating fortress fucker is yours." Maybe, depends on if it made him mad first.

"You're a gentleman." Wow, if that tone got any dryer she'd be spiting dust out.

"And you have nice tits." He sounded sincerely insincere for some reason. Must be a side effect from living with Misato or training a lot with Ritsuko. Both of them were pretty stacked.

Unit-00 flickered blue for a second, and Shinji shut off the radio to hide from the hail of profanity over the line.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Well, at least they get along." Maya said, wincing as she monitored the pilots' vitals. Man, Shinji really got to her with that one.

"Like Ritsuko and men," Misato muttered just loud enough for Maya to catch.

"But she do- I mean, I have no idea what you're implying." Ooh, she was _blushing_. "W-what?" She looked at Hyuga who was pointing to his face. "I-I'm blushing aren't I? Why am I b-blushing?" Poor girl, she should have known better than to say anything.

"Status on the Angel." Misato didn't feel like mentioning catching Maya and Ritsuko in the act of a private anatomy lesson, done in the nude for the best reference material natch. Or other personal bits of her history that would embarrass her as well.

"It's now directly above us and is beginning to drill into the city." Shigeru reported, having smacked Makoto in the back of the head for messing around. "This is the first damage an Angel has actually managed to inflict on the city."

"This is what happens when we all do our jobs." Misato said, smiling at the bridge crew. "Time remaining to operation?"

"15 minutes ma'am!" Hyuga responded, checking on the Evangelion. "Unit-01 is in a prone position and ready for the shot. 00 is in position to defend."

"The generators are holding steady," Maya called, checking the power supply. Ritsuko chose that moment to walk in to the bridge.

"This should be interesting." Ritsuko managed to sneak up on Misato, who was waiting impatiently for the op's start. "I figured I'd come and see the pilots in action, they were bugging me earlier about possible holes in the Operation plan."

"Just like Shinji to do that, and he can't even tell me." Misato faked being upset simply because she didn't care. If he wanted to be serious about this, let him.

"He is a little inconsiderate, a trait not unfamiliar to me." Why did Ritsuko look at Misato like that? Who knows.

"What are you implying?" Besides implications of course.

"Nothing~." Ritsuko leaned over to whisper into Misato. "November 13th, Freshmen year." She walked away, hands in her pockets, humming a tune.

"Y-you bitch! You said you'd never mention it again!" And yes, Misato had turned as red as her jacket. Why do you ask?

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Operation will start in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Operation commencing!" Maya called, as the positron cannon hit full charge.

"Ayanami, show time." Shinji began aiming at Ramiel.

"Copy that Ikari." Unit-00 moved farther away from the prone Evangelion and took up a wide stance. She then opened her AT-field, projecting it in front of the Shuttle Shield.

"Unit-00 has opened its AT-field! High energy reaction confirmed in the Angel!" Shigeru called in, freaking internally.

"What the fuck is she doing?" Misato flew forward to get a better look at this shit.

"Oscillation has reached maximum! The target is firing!" Hyuga called, covering his eyes.

"REI!" Misato screamed, before the beam crashed into the combined shield and was held at bay.

"Check.." Rei managed to speak under the strain.

"...mate motherfucker!" Shinji finished, firing off the shot that traveled perfectly along the side of Ramiel's beam. The Angel was taken complete by surprise and couldn't raise a countermeasure in time. The beam tore right through his AT-field, the core being pierced neatly in one fell swoop. Ramiel didn't even have time to scream before his drill stopped and he fell over, dead as can be.

"B-blue pattern has ceased. It... it's dead." Maya said, eyes wide with disbelief.

Misato said nothing, but looked at the main screen where both Evangelion were flipping off the corpse of their kill. What the hell was that?

End chapter 5

Teaser for chapter 6 "I'm By Your Side...":

"Mmm, I just love the feel of the ocean mist against my skin." A young redheaded girl dressed in a yellow sun dress, replete with an accompanying sun hat. She held it against her head and closed her eyes, smelling the air once more.

"That's nice Asuka," the older man standing on the deck next to her said. "Be careful you don't feel the ocean spray too much. Your dad would kill me if you caught something."

"Ja ja," Asuka Langley Soryu, the mysterious Second Child, dismissed the worries of her Guardian, one Ryoji Kaji. "I wouldn't worry too much, I'm too hardy for that." She smiled to belie her boast, showing she wasn't completely laughing off his concern.

"If you say so." Kaji laughed at her demeanor. She had been stoked about the transfer to Japan, with Unit-02 in tow. "You've been taking care of Unit-02 right?"

"What kind of person would I be if I let my partner suffer through my neglect?" She puffed her chest out at that, accidentally pushing her breasts out.

"You know I have to ask, or else I can't tell the people coming today that you're already a really responsible adult." Kaji completely ignored the flounce of feminine flesh before him. He wasn't interested and neither was she.

"The First and Third Children, ja?" She smiled brightly, looking forward to meeting them finally. She had heard about the battles they have had and she looked forward to fighting along side them. "And your long lost love, Ms. Katsuragi too, ja?" She laughed when he colored at that. "Listen to me, Ryoji Kaji, you are a great man. Any woman, even one as young as me, would be flattered by your attention. If you're serious and true in your feelings for her, you better not let her go again or else." She crossed her arms, not worrying for her heat due to a slight break in the wind.

"Yes ma'am!" Kaji saluted and beamed at his young charge. Only 14 and so full of life.

"Mmm, it is a good day, ja?"

Author note: And that's 5. I will also admit to going a bit overboard with Gendo, but the scene just spiraled out of control. As you can tell from 6's teaser, Asuka appears next chapter. And what's this? She seems... different! What's up with that? Answers to come!


	6. I'm By Your Side

Disclaimer: Mari Illustrious Makinami will not be appearing in this fanfic. Sorry.

Author note: It's chapter 6 and here comes Asuka. Why is she acting like a normal, well adjusted person? Let's find out together true believers!

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 6 I'm By Your Side...

by Marik Kurakashi

"Mmm, I just love the feel of the ocean mist against my skin." A young redheaded girl dressed in a yellow sun dress, replete with an accompanying sun hat. She held it against her head and closed her eyes, smelling the air once more.

"That's nice Asuka," the older man standing on the deck next to her said. "Be careful you don't feel the ocean spray too much. Your dad would kill me if you caught something."

"Ja ja," Asuka Langley Soryu, the mysterious Second Child, dismissed the worries of her Guardian, one Ryoji Kaji. "I wouldn't worry too much, I'm too hardy for that." She smiled to belie her boast, showing she wasn't completely laughing off his concern.

"If you say so." Kaji laughed at her demeanor. She had been stoked about the transfer to Japan, with Unit-02 in tow. "You've been taking care of Unit-02 right?"

"What kind of person would I be if I let my partner suffer through my neglect?" She puffed her chest out at that, accidentally pushing her breasts out.

"You know I have to ask, or else I can't tell the people coming today that you're already a really responsible adult." Kaji completely ignored the flounce of feminine flesh before him. He wasn't interested and neither was she.

"The First and Third Children, ja?" She smiled brightly, looking forward to meeting them finally. She had heard about the battles they have had and she looked forward to fighting along side them. "And your long lost love, Ms. Katsuragi too, ja?" She laughed when he colored at that. "Listen to me, Ryoji Kaji, you are a great man. Any woman, even one as young as me, would be flattered by your attention. If you're serious and true in your feelings for her, you better not let her go again or else." She crossed her arms, not worrying for her heat due to a slight break in the wind.

"Yes ma'am!" Kaji saluted and beamed at his young charge. Only 14 and so full of life.

"Mmm, it is a good day, ja?" She looked up to seagulls above and smiled again.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Despite all outward signs, there is a deep personal tragedy in the past of Asuka, something that still lingers in her heart until this very moment. It goes without saying the loss of a parent is tough, but to lose one to suicide can be very damaging indeed. Fortune visited a boon upon the Second Child, as she never saw her mother's body hanging from the ceiling.

During the three months leading up to the suicide, there was still profound damage done by the woman who was the mother to Asuka. Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu was not a cruel woman by any standards, but as a woman of science, one would expect her to have difficulty with expressing the appropriate emotions when rearing a child. Sadly, it would seem the cryptic words left behind Yui Ikari would damn this poor woman to madness.

'That which is not permitted to move the Evangelion will be forever ruined.'

It is true that the glowing light of the post-Second Impact world wound up with her life snuffed out for her hubris to dare and try to bridle the Evangelion. Kyoko's fate was worse still, leaving her a shell of a human being and in a state of perpetual delirium. This state had brought many sleepless nights to the very young and impressionable Second Child, and even further ruined an already strained marriage.

Eugen Langley was a reasonable man, but a man nonetheless. He wasn't completely guiltless for his wife's fragile mental state, due to their increasing workloads and emotional drift, he had taken to cheat on Kyoko with her psychologist, a whore of a woman whose name is best forgotten. But he did his best to be a good father for his daughter, however difficult it was to compare to Asuka's open worship of her mother.

He does deserve credit, as his intervention into his daughter's life was a considerable factor that helped undo the damage Kyoko had unknowingly caused.

Being a father is taxing work, is what Eugen would say of Asuka, even now that she has been put into the care of Ryoji Kaji. The day of the tests, he had been running behind schedule, but he was running as hard as he could to make it there in time. It was because this day would determine of Asuka was to be one of the chosen few that would be allowed to move the Evangelion.

At the crest of the stairs he had just shot up, an odd feeling of having dodged something massive ran through his being. He dismissed it all at once, dedicating to get there in time. The fork had come in the road and he took the path well taken, avoiding a nasty surprise event in the form of tumbling down the stairs and being unconscious.

Upon the gentle wings of a butterfly, a hurricane visited devastation upon the lives of Asuka and her father.

She had just finished the test when he arrived, and he was there to hold her close as they awaited the results. And he was there to hold her aloft as a proud father should, celebrating her early success despite being just four years of age. Like a doting father, he was going to spoil her rotten for this achievement, because his daughter was the Second Child and a pilot for Evangelion, her destiny intertwined with the machine that ruined her mother.

They exited the building hand in hand, looking like a model for a loving father and daughter relationship. Ice cream was to be her reward for her success, the young Asuka having something of a sweet tooth. She could tell Mommy later, but right now, she'd have to accept the affection of her father as a substitute for the praise her little heart craved.

An orderly in the asylum found Kyoko hanging from the ceiling in her cell, dead for all the world to see.

Eugen and Asuka had been on their way to visit Kyoko when they received the call, the happiness of the day ripped cruelly from them in an instant. The man that he was, though relieved to no longer be burdened by Kyoko, could not look upon his daughter's tear stained visage and not be moved. Pulling the car over, he embraced her for a long while, neither able to speak.

Had he been a far more callow man, he would have carried out with the idea of marrying his mistress and abandoning his daughter to the care of Gehrin, knowing she would be completely broken for the rest of her life. But there, with her sobbing in his arms, he felt like the world's largest bastard. How could he abandon her now, when she needed him the most?

Seems he couldn't, mocked his conscience, surfacing from the sea of his mind after long thought to be drowned in a storm of indifference.

Without understating, the mistress took the abrupt severance of their relationship as poorly as you'd expect a conniving, backstabbing bitch who would take advantage of a down on his luck man just to have some cock in her diet would. She called him every name in the book and some she wrote in herself, conveniently forgetting she had started this illicit tryst on her own. To say nothing of how shocked she was when he kindly told her to go fuck herself with a rusty razor blade.

It would seem as though he would be forced to help his daughter pick up the pieces from her mother's untimely decision to do a merry jig on the end of a rope. But thinking about helping Asuka through this ordeal appealed to a part of him he long thought buried and dead. A part of him he had tried to sabotage by not intervening in Kyoko's actions after the accident.

These feelings of fatherly love, so foreign and yet so welcome, would be the buoy that would get them through this terrible moment in their lives.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"So Ritsuko, I'm with Shinji and Rei, heading to rendezvous with the Over the Rainbow to meet with the Second Child." Misato was in communique with Ritsuko back at NERV HQ in order to go over certain updates to pet projects they had taken upon themselves to push through. "How's the projects on your end?"

"Most of the weapons, both ranged and improved melee, are nearly completed. We have new model rifles, shotguns, handguns and even a rocket launcher for some reason. We stuck with swords and spears for melee but someone had apparently made some sort of double blade chainsaw sword monstrosity." Ritsuko paused, thinking about the shock everyone received when they had seen that without anyone requesting it being made.

"What the fuck?" Misato wasn't one to be subtle unless it called for it. To hear someone wasted precious resources and time on it was a bit much for her tastes.

"The amazing part is that it was completed inside of three days. The guy in charge of it. I think it was Li Rong or something weird like that, said he wanted to make a drill but he couldn't get manufacture a way to make it spin fast enough to pierced anything, let alone the heavens." The fact he never elaborated how he came up with the double chainsaw thing scared the hell out of Ritsuko.

"I'm... I... I can't think of a question for that, so let's move on. How goes the ammo development?" Misato put it from her mind and focused on other things.

"Good, everything is complete. The armor piercing rounds tested well and are being mass produced as we speak. If we run into another fortress, we won't have our pilots lacking in the ability to hurt it." The egg on their face when they could only send Rei with such rounds out still burnt her proverbial biscuits.

"For all the guns?" Misato knew that the obvious details are sometimes the hardest to manage. You think you got them but you've already looked over them.

"Yes. We made sure they understood it was their ass times infinity that all guns have armor piercing rounds, among others. I can't say much now, we haven't gotten them all compiled yet." In fact, she was in the middle of that act right now. And sadly, sacrificing other more pleasurable acts for taking the initiative to make sure it was done.

"Great. Did you see the news today? The JSSDF canceled the Jet Alone project! Haven't they been working on that for years?" Misato remembered one of the JSSDF approaching Shinji after the fight with Ramiel to question him about stuff.

"They have, but between our successes in preventing massive damage and loss of life, to new data that shows that they were in over their heads, they had no choice but to stop." Ritsuko had to remember to thank Shinji, for their resident little snarker had shut down the uppity bastard in a matter of minutes.

"I guess that new data would be Shinji telling them like he thinks it is eh?" Misato looked over at Shinji, who was busy playfully antagonizing Rei with something she couldn't see.

"Yeah, I don't think I could stand having a 14 year old punk just haul off and tell me that the project I've been wasting years of my life on was not only worthless but would only be a waste of everyone time and a larger hazard to everyone than what it's being built to fight." To say nothing of mocking the design of it or asking if they had intended to make something intentionally idiotic looking in the hopes of using laughter as a main weapon.

"He did have a point that without an AT-field, you'd need something with the power of the entirety of Tokyo-3 behind it just to pierce the AT-field, to say nothing of blocking any attack." Misato felt immense pride in her charge, who had apparently been waiting for an opportunity to shut this bullshit down, if what he said afterwards was any indication.

"To say nothing of the capper to it all." Ritsuko held the newspaper up, bearing the headline: "Human ingenuity will overcome this threat." Shinji's picture was next to Unit-01 and he was smiling, genuinely smiling in it, for once. "He has accomplished what years of political backstabbing and intrigue couldn't: kill the Jet Alone dead. Take good care of him captain, we need our ace back in one piece."

"You don't have to say that to me." Despite the standoffish words, Misato's face was covered in a brilliant smile.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"So they have arrived." Asuka withheld her smile, saving such things for the recipients to see. Kaji stood impassively beside her, insides churning as he thought about Misato coming back into his life once more. "You're nervous."

"I wish I wasn't, but it's hard not to be." Though they parted on good terms, who knows what has developed in the heart of Misato Katsuragi? Kaji wrung his hands once, and only once, signifying how stressed he was.

"That bad, huh?" She wasn't teasing him, though she would if she thought it'd help. But she knew it wouldn't and so kept her responses short. "Don't waver now, and don't think of running away. You would never live long enough to make it up to me or her."

"Mmm. Right, just focus on the now correct?" How helpful she was, which was why he continued to be her guardian. "Thank you."

"No need, you've helped me far too much for me to require thanks." She always said that in lieu of accepting it, one of her quirks. "The helicopter is landing."

Indeed it was, and once it was finished, Rei, Shinji and Misato stood on the helipad, surveying the deck.

"I'm not one for Naval geekery, but this ship is pretty cool." Shinji decided to lighten the mood before the meeting, succeeding nominally.

"I agree, there is something aesthetically pleasing in a ship like this." Rei decided to try out haughty today. It worked for her, I suppose.

"I suppose the captain of the ship will love to hear that." Misato crossed her arms and joined in the conversation, being held up by the ship's personnel making sure they were who they said they were. Once they were give clearance, she lead the three over to the center of the deck, where Kaji and Asuka were waiting.

"Hello Misato." That was all he said, or all he could say, before Misato decided to check the durability of his ribs with a crushing hug. "OOF!"

Shinji said nothing, sizing up Asuka for a long while.

"You're staring Ikari." Rei whispered into his ear, rewarding her with the rare sight of Shinji off guard, face red with embarrassment.

"Yeah? Well... that skirt makes your ass look fat!" He tried to cover himself in light of being caught by Rei. Asuka stood passively off to the side, not really reacting.

"And you love it, don't you? I remember you humming some song when I showed up in this." Thankfully for Shinji, she didn't know what Queen was.

"Shut up, we have to introduce ourselves." He turned away and looked back at Asuka again, who looked amused about something.

"Oh of course, of course. Don't let me get in the way of your, what did the Captain call it, your game?" Oh she was enjoying this too much.

"Nice to see you two so relaxed." Asuka wasn't even the least sarcastic, which confused the other two pilots a lot. "Anyways, I am the Second Child, Asuka Langley Soryu, pilot of Evangelion Unit-02. I look forward to helping you defeat the Angels from here on out."

"Because we're bringing you in to do our housework instead." Shinji was still moody about Rei's teasing, so he decided to bring himself back up on the back of any awkward comment around him.

He really didn't expect Asuka to bust out laughing like that.

"So you have a sense of humor, ja?" She said a minute later, smiling as she readjusted her sun hat.

"You could say that." Shinji felt a sense of relief that he hadn't alienated the new girl somehow. "Around NERV, you have to be able to laugh at something."

"I bet." Asuka came over and wrapped her arms around Shinji's left. "You can introduce yourself later, but how about I give you a tour of the ship first?" She smiled and Shinji winced, not from the smile but from the bug-eyed look of rage on Rei's face. What the hell was that?

"Uh sure, I guess. But won't it be awkward if you don't know my name?" He wasn't opposed to the idea of a ship tour, but he was becoming uncomfortable with her hugging him like this.

"Will it?" She leaned her head back and just had this weird expression that was somewhere between completely wholesome and totally devious. "That's okay, I like strangers." Oh shit, that was not a completely wholesome thing to say.

"Do you now? What about me? Don't _I_ get a tour too, Miss Second Child in a Sun Dress?" Rei managed not to sound jealous and instead just sounded massively bratty instead.

"Now where did I say I was going to leave you behind? I wouldn't be so rude, Miss Fat Bottoms." Shinji laughed for exactly three second, before coughing when it looked like Rei was going to come for his throat.

"You win this round, Second Child." Rei's eyes narrowed as she decided to go along with the sudden onslaught of romantic comedy by wrapping herself around Shinji's right arm. Surprisingly, this only freaked Shinji out, Asuka just chuckled lightly.

"Come now you two, there is a lot of ship to see." This was going to be so damned fun.

"I'm doomed." Shinji was in despair, the sudden onslaught of romantic comedy had left him in despair. Both girls laughed at that.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Sometime later, the Captain had called an emergency meeting with the passengers for some reason. He looked pretty grim as he paced the cabin for a long moment. The he finally spoke.

"We lost contact with some of our escorts. This wouldn't be a concern normally, but we can contact all other ships." He didn't need to elaborate as Shinji and Misato both caught on to what he's saying.

"It's an Angel, right?" That was Shinji, looking tense when he realized Unit-01 was left behind.

"Do we have confirmation of a Blue Pattern?" That was Misato, who had snapped out of her daze at being reunited with Kaji instantly.

"Yes, it is circling us right now. It's possible it is looking for something in our fleet." The captain felt relieved as they seemed to understand the situation.

"What it is doesn't matter," Asuka shot to her feet. "Miss Katsuragi, the ship transporting Unit-02 is a mobile base. We can use it to fight."

"Alright, tell the crew to prepare it for launch. Does it have D-type equipment?" Misato was taking charge here.

"Of course. We have to have it for ocean travel." Asuka nodded, cracking her knuckles.

"Make sure you have a progressive knife ready for use in the operation." Misato followed the captain out to help with the prep however she could.

"Fufufufufufu! So my first battle with the Angels has finally come! This is perfect." She punched out into the air. She calmed down before she turned to Shinji and held out a hand. "Ikari! You said you read the theories on the Evangelion correct? There is only Unit-02 here, so if you want to fight, then take my hand and do so at my side! You and I together will show this beast the proof of our souls and the strength of humanity!"

"A-alright." He calmed himself from being swept along with her emotions and took her hand. "Let's go."

"Don't be frightened, I am right her besides you. I won't allow you, Ayanami, or anyone else to cry out in fear any longer! Our counterattack begins today!" She gripped onto Shinji's arm and pulled him along.

"That girl..." Rei felt moisture along her face, a solitary tear slipping down her face. "That incredible girl." She smiled as several more tears began to make their way down her face, overcome by the emotion of the moment before her.

End chapter 06

Teaser for chapter 7 "I'm the Only Thing I'm Afraid of ":

"The Angel has taken down another ship!" Maya reported from NERV HQ, Ritsuko taking command of the bridge in Misato's stead, using the MAGI to monitor the battle from her.

"Seven ships have been sunk already." Hyuga followed, teeth gritting in anger. This Angel was a coward, they hadn't completed the D-Type for Unit-00 and 01 yet. For once, NERV Japan wasn't ahead of everyone else, as Unit-02 apparently came with it. Lady Luck smiled upon them again.

"Unit-02 deployment in 40 seconds." Aoba called, swallowing as he received a message from Misato. "Shinji and Asuka are co-piloting it."

"So, you're allowing that huh Misato?" Ritsuko smirked to herself, before turning to another task. "Get air transports off the ground, we need air support to keep all relevant info available to our pilots." That was Misato like, wasn't it?

"Yes ma'am!"

Author note: No name for Asuka's dad, so I made one up. No specified underwater equipment, so I decided to use D-type and pretend that the Volcano diving was a modification. Other than that, that's 6 down. See you for 7!


	7. I'm the Only Thing I'm Afraid of

Disclaimer: This is not a serious fan fiction and I am not a serious writer. Remember that and enjoy.

Author notes: It's chapter 7 time. Gahgiel versus the Evangelion. You want all of this. Let's do it!

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 7 I'm the Only Thing I'm Afraid of

by Marik Kurakashi

"The Angel has taken down another ship!" Maya reported from NERV HQ, Ritsuko taking command of the bridge in Misato's stead, using the MAGI to monitor the battle from her.

"Seven ships have been sunk already." Hyuga followed, teeth gritting in anger. This Angel was a coward, they hadn't completed the D-Type for Unit-00 and 01 yet. For once, NERV Japan wasn't ahead of everyone else, as Unit-02 apparently came with it. Lady Luck smiled upon them again.

"Unit-02 deployment in 40 seconds." Aoba called, swallowing as he received a message from Misato. "Shinji and Asuka are co-piloting it."

"So, you're allowing that huh Misato?" Ritsuko smirked to herself, before turning to another task. "Get air transports off the ground, we need air support to keep all relevant info available to our pilots." That was Misato like, wasn't it?

"Yes ma'am!" Ritsuko turned around to see Gendo standing behind her, impassive as always. "Yes commander?"

"The UN has mobilized hyper sonic transports for the wounded, and I have already committed ours to the rescue effort of the crew members of the ships that have been sunk." That was surprising, but then, he had always been a firm believer in never compromising anything to an enemy.

"I suppose you have permission to use them over Tokyo-3 airspace?" She didn't need to ask, it was likely asked for by the city council.

"Yes. I already told them of the situation and they're fine. They're opening all hospitals for emergency operations for hypothermia and other injuries. We will not compromise a single thing more than we have already. On this, I will not budge." His jaw was clinched in barely held in fury. They had been fully outmaneuvered by this Angel and it was pissing Gendo off badly.

"Aoba, open a comm link to all our transport pilots. The commander has something to say." Ritsuko understood Gendo's feelings, for once, and was going to allow him his piece.

"Hello, personnel of NERV, this is your commander speaking. I know I haven't been the most hands on leader as I could have been, but I just want you to know how important today's operation is." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Gentlemen, in this world of today, there is no longer a thing known as a meaningless death. To survive through Second Impact and the chaos that followed it means that your life has full meaning. We all have our reasons to fight against the Angels, for our families, our friends, our homes and even ourselves."

There was silence as everyone listened to the words of their commander, taking them to heart.

"This operation is important, because there are men and women, just like you, just like me, who have laid their lives down to make this world a better place. To give a better future for their kids and their neighbor's kids. For you, for me, and for everyone still alive. They have been blindsided by an Angel and need our assistance to make it home safely. Will we fail to save them?"

"HELL NO!" The loud reply shook the walls, and Gendo found himself smiling so very slightly.

"That is correct! We are NERV! We were founded to save this world and its people from the Angels and that is what we'll do. We refuse to compromise a single life to them, because every life is important. No one is expendable now, and we shall show the Angel the strength of our resolve by saving as many as we can. We will swallow our tears and save one more for every one lost. And when those brave souls are interred we will engrave their names in our hearts to remind ourselves why we won't lay down and die. We're going to save as many as we can and do you know why? Because this is NERV and this is what we're here for. Our work begins gentlemen, go forth!"

"SIR YES SIR!"

/-\ /-\ /-\

"This is uncharted territory for the both of us, ja?" Asuka said, looking over her shoulder to where Shinji was crouched behind her.

"Of course, this was all just theory but Unit-02 is responding so I guess we're proving the thesis true." Now wasn't the time for getting uppity, they had an Angel to bag. "Just remember what we talked about, if we focus, we should be able to use the AT-field to protect the ships around us."

"Understood. This fish bastard won't take another ship from us." Unit-02 picked up the progressive knife from the deck beside it and took a fighting stance. "THERE!" They deployed the AT-field just in front of an escorting frigate right as Gahgiel was about to smash it. The Angel roughly body slammed into the field instead of deploying his own, bouncing off and skipping off the water.

"It doesn't seem to be that intelligent." Shinji said, as they put Unit-02 into leap landing on a platform created by repositioning their field below them. The Evangelion reared back and slugged the recovered Gahgiel in the face, pushing it back farther from the ships.

"Back to the deck, so we can keep and eye on it." And so, the Evangelion returned to the deck of the transport ship. "We're doing good so far Ikari."

"Let's hope we can keep it up." He watched for movement from Gahgiel, spotting it going for another ship and blocking it with the field again. "Into the water, we can use the cable for quick retrieval." They dove in, working to keep their ratios in unison so the Evangelion fought at its peak.

"No you don't!" Asuka yelled, twisting Unit-02 into a mighty kick that managed to throw the Angel from the water. "Up we go, Ikari!"

"Yes!" And with that, an ascending Unit-02 met a descending Gahgiel, the former punching the latter away from the fleet again. "Hm, hypersonic transports?" They sprang off their field and back to the deck of the transport ship.

"Looks like they're here for the people from the sank ships." Asuka refocused on the battle at hand, deciding to help give the cover. "Looks like we got more targets to defend."

"Yeah, but he also has more targets to choose from, which means he'll have to work to pick one." The Angels were limited in cunning to Shinji's measure, which is why he was confident this wouldn't be a hindrance.

"I like the way you think." Asuka smiled as they blocked another desperate rush from Gahgiel with their projected field. "Why doesn't it use its field?"

"When it was falling, I saw gills on the side of it, so it probably has to be careful using it too much or it will kill itself accidentally." Shinji wasn't sure, but that made the most sense at the moment. "We should be glad, we don't have to worry about it taking out the fleet unless we guess wrong."

"Avoiding a long term underwater battle huh?" Asuka was impressed by the logic, even as they went on the offensive again, this time scoring a small gash against its hide. "Geh, its hide is pretty durable. Conventional weapons would be mostly useless and take too long to damage it." They changed up their tactics and dove underwater instead of retreating back to the ship, allowing them to slam a knee into the underbelly of the Angel. This was followed by an impressive spin kick that pushed Gahgiel away again.

"It feels like hitting a brick wall, if that brick wall was on wheels." Shinji paused, realizing how messed up that sounded. "So not like hitting a brick wall at all." They were back on deck again, watching for Gahgiel's recovery.

"Don't you just love situations you can't put into words?" Asuka smiled as they blocked another sudden charge from Gahgiel. It just wasn't learning at all it seems.

"Totally, I mean, who doesn't love being brought to a total stand still be sheer stupidity?" Unit-02 moved again, followed unnoticed by an eye of Gahgiel floating independently from the main body. It was watching it, seemingly counting the time between the movement.

"I know I do!" Asuka laughed as they kicked Gahgiel away again, before bounding back to the deck. Unnoticed by either, that last jump was a tiny bit slower. But Gahgiel caught it, and if it could, it would have begun laughing maniacally.

"I wonder if it will give up soon." Shinji wondered aloud, blocking Gahgiel yet again, before following it up with their usual hop down to knock the Angel away again. Just slightly, it wasn't as fair as before and Gahgiel disappeared under the waves once more.

Just as Unit-02 was making its leap back to the deck, a shadow appeared beneath it. Unable to react fast enough, the Evangelion was captured in the mighty jaws of the Angel and pulled underwater. Everyone observing the battle just stared in shock, save for Rei.

"RRRRRRR, NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She wasn't taking this development well, as you might have noticed.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Son of a bitch, it's been setting us up this entire time." Shinji was angry but controlling it. Majorly because he was managing to ignore the blinding pain in his abdomen.

"I should have seen that." Asuka wasn't about to blame Shinji for that, as she was the one in the seat.

"We both should of, now stay focused! If it stops, we'll shank its ass!" Considering the speed they were traveling, that was unlikely though.

"This is not the end, it has to stop at some point." Asuka forced one eye open in difference to the pain.

"We'll get through this somehow." Shinji tried to be reassuring, but he wasn't confident.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Rei!" Misato came running out to check on the angry First Child, who was looking ready to dive in after the Evangelion. "Just stay put, we'll get them back somehow."

"I can do it." Rei was quiet, but Misato heard her.

"Do what?" Misato was confused by the sudden shift from frothing at the mouth to quiet confidence.

"I can talk to the Evangelion, I was born with this ability." It wasn't a total lie, as Rei didn't also mention she was part of a large batch of clones made from the leftovers of Yui Ikari. "I am the First Child, and this is my power." She seemed to glow a soft white now, causing Misato to back up.

"What are you talking about?" Misato was only in the dark before she remembered the report on Rei's sync test. "You did this to Unit-00 didn't you?"

"Correct. I chained down the wild beast within it so it could suit my purposes. Unit-00 is my steed for me to ride into battle." Rei smiled as she felt Unit-02 beneath the waves. "Good, I can feel the spirit of the Evangelion Unit-02 still. I won't be too late." Her face was suddenly streaked with tears of relief. "Shinji, Asuka, I won't fail you."

"Just what are you going to do?" Misato was suddenly frightened by the sight of Rei crying.

"Bridge the gap between my soul and the one inside Unit-02 and join them in their fight." She wiped her face and laughed. "Please take care of my body, I don't want to be trapped in there should it fall into the ocean."

"Leave it to me." Misato didn't voice her concerns, they needed a miracle now.

"Spirit of Evangelion Unit-02, I call upon you now and allow me entrance into your domain." She smiled as she felt a questioning response. "Because, I intend to save you and your passengers. Believe in me, I won't fail you." Another pulse and Rei smiled. "Thank you, my friend. I will take these wings you have given me to fly you to safety once more." An explosion of colors swept over her vision as she felt herself pull away.

"These colors, it's so beautiful..." Her body slumped against Misato back on Over the Rainbow, who was joined by Kaji.

"Misato! What's happening?" Kaji was trying not to panic about his charge's predicament.

"The calvary has just arrived." Misato gently laid Rei down and closed her eyes in prayer.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"What is that feeling?" Shinji muttered before turning around and seeing a naked Rei standing behind him, smiling regally. "A-Ayanami, how did you get here? And more importantly, why are you naked?"

"I asked Unit-02 to bring me on board and I'm naked because this is my soul." Rei laughed as Shinji tried to hide his face.

"Can she really do this?" Asuka was shocked to have another passenger on board her Evangelion, but she wasn't going to complain if it got the out of this predicament.

"Apparently!" Shinji kept his eyes forward, so as to not be distracted by the naked girl behind him. "Let's do this then. If it's all three of us, we should be able to win!"

"Roger that." Asuka agreed, clenching the controls.

"Our combined AT-field should force its jaws open." Rei suggested, taking a deep breath as their combined ratios began to merge. A small orange sphere took form in front of the chest of Unit-02. "I am Rei Ayanami, the First Child!"

"I am Asuka Langley Soryu, the Second Child!" It began to flatten out into the familiar hexagonal shape now.

"I am Shinji Ikari, the Third Child!" An orange glow got the attention of Gahgiel. But not fast enough to matter, for him anyways.

"And nothing is hopeless, BECAUSE WE ARE THE PILOTS OF EVANGELION!" The field expanded into the face of the Angel with the force of a thousand freight trains moving at max speed. Unit-02, which found itself free from the jaws of Gahgiel, flexed its legs before looking to see where Gahgiel went. The Evangelion swam to the surface and made a sturdy AT-field platform to stand on.

"We made it." Asuka breathed a sigh of relief while Shinji rubbed the phantom pain in his abs away.

"And now we'll finish this." Rei sounded confident, which was helping buoy the other two for now.

"Huh, we got a message from Ritsuko." Shinji said, as Asuka opened it, remembering the briefing on NERV Japan's personnel.

"Hello Unit-02, this is Dr. Ritsuko Akagi here, telling you to look over to your right. We have a gift for you, in the form of the Maglock-E Anti-Angel Blade, one of NERV's many new weapons for you kids to hack apart those pesky Angels. Enjoy~!" The three did so, and saw a transport floating there with an enormous broadsword dangling down.

"Dr. Akagi, I love you." Shinji said in joking manner, as they sprang over and took the thing from it, landing back on the platform.

"This is amazing. NERV Japan does not fuck around." Asuka admired the blade for a long second.

"The Angel is awake again. We need to get it out of the water." Rei was the calm one, keeping her eyes on the prize.

"AT-fields are just domain control. If we can unify our sync ratios and manifest a field that's 3 in one..." Shinji let it hang, which was picked up by Asuka.

"...then we can use three different ones. After all, the shape, strength, and location are all up to us." She gripped her controls again. "This is it."

"MMH!" Wordlessly the other two agreed. Unit-02 leaped from its perch once more, casting off the D-type equipment before jumping off a single AT-field and getting higher than before. Another twined around the length of the Maglock, turning it into a giant fishing pole. With a flick, the cast the line down.

"GOT YOU!" Asuka yelled, focusing on yanking Gahgiel from the ocean, which they succeeded spectacularly as the giant flat fish Angel twirled helplessly in the air.

"**DAI-**

**RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!**" All three screamed this, the eyes on Unit-02 glowing a brilliant green as they swung through the flesh of Gahgiel in an instant, utterly ending the life off their foe.

"Too bad for you, there is no need to recover your carcass." Rei smirked as another AT-field expanded over the remains of the Angel, twisting them until they simply burst into an impressive display of gore.

"And with that, the operation is a success." Shinji summed up, taking a deep breath as they used the AT-field to guide Unit-02 down to the deck of Over the Rainbow.

End chapter 7

Teaser for Chapter 8 "If You Talk Too Much, My Head Will Explode":

"So Ritsuko, explain this domain control to me again. I kinda spaced out when you were talking about it the other day." Misato bowed in apology, which Ritsuko accepted. It wasn't a hard concept to grasp, it was just hard to believe it was real.

"Domain control was a theorized form of psychokinesis, wherein the manifestation of psychic powers would allow the use to control an area of influence through force of will. The stronger the conviction, the stronger the form and ability." Ritsuko explained in her most patient voice. This one of the rare times she used it in discussing stuff in public, but Misato didn't need to know that.

"So what you're saying is that the Evangelion is a psychic medium?" Misato grasped at a straw, and happened to mostly be correct.

"Correct to a certain degree. It's theorized the AT-field could be used by whoever piloted an Evangelion, but the problem is that the ability to pilot is few and far between. Additionally, neither Shinji nor Asuka have shown a manifestation of psychokinesis." Ritsuko was glad Misato was at least accepting the explanation.

"I noticed you didn't mention Rei." Misato blinked at her old friend's suddenly pained face.

"No one knows what the deal with Rei is. By all accounts there is no way she should have been able to interface with the Evangelion from outside. Her origins are protected with security of which no one has access to, not even the Commander. In fact, there is no one high enough to access her records." In another world, another time, Ritsuko would have been tearing the pants off Gendo Ikari for access to them, debasing herself to the degree that she would never recover from the downfall that came with the illicit tryst. But that was another place and time, and had little bearing on the Ritsuko here and now.

"Is she really that important?" Misato looked at Ritsuko, who was texting Maya something for some reason.

"More than we can know, from what I can see."

Author note: And down goes Gahgiel. Filler chapter is next, but delicious exposition will be had. Stay tuned please.


	8. If You Talk Too Much

Disclaimer: I'm typing as fast as I can

Author note: Chapter 8 and we hit the brakes on the Angels for a bit of exposition. Hope it's good.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 8 If You Talk Too Much, My Head Will Explode

by Marik Kurakashi

"So Ritsuko, explain this domain control to me again. I kinda spaced out when you were talking about it the other day." Misato bowed in apology, which Ritsuko accepted. It wasn't a hard concept to grasp, it was just hard to believe it was real.

"Domain control was a theorized form of psychokinesis, wherein the manifestation of psychic powers would allow the use to control an area of influence through force of will. The stronger the conviction, the stronger the form and ability." Ritsuko explained in her most patient voice. This one of the rare times she used it in discussing stuff in public, but Misato didn't need to know that.

"So what you're saying is that the Evangelion is a psychic medium?" Misato grasped at a straw, and happened to mostly be correct.

"Correct to a certain degree. It's theorized the AT-field could be used by whoever piloted an Evangelion, but the problem is that the ability to pilot is few and far between. Additionally, neither Shinji nor Asuka have shown a manifestation of psychokinesis." Ritsuko was glad Misato was at least accepting the explanation.

"I noticed you didn't mention Rei." Misato blinked at her old friend's suddenly pained face.

"No one knows what the deal with Rei is. By all accounts there is no way she should have been able to interface with the Evangelion from outside. Her origins are protected with security of which no one has access to, not even the Commander. In fact, there is no one high enough to access her records." In another world, another time, Ritsuko would have been tearing the pants off Gendo Ikari for access to them, debasing herself to the degree that she would never recover from the downfall that came with the illicit tryst. But that was another place and time, and had little bearing on the Ritsuko here and now.

"Is she really that important?" Misato looked at Ritsuko, who was texting Maya something for some reason.

"More than we can know, from what I can see." Ritsuko read the reply and nodded, before looking over at Misato. "We should be careful around her though. By all accounts she's been heavily volatile these past few weeks and it can't be good for her."

"Wouldn't over-controlling her emotions be just as bad?" Misato was already concerned about Rei, but it had more to due with her attitude with relations to Shinji and the recently arrived Asuka.

"In a normal person, probably. But Rei has no baseline emotional level, so when she's in control, she's way in control, and when she's out of control, well, look at Unit-00." The fact that Rei could bend the Evangelion to her will scared Ritsuko shitless. "So we have to be careful, if she keeps swinging from extreme to extreme, she may lose her grip on her sanity, and someone who can subjugate an Evangelion is someone we need sane, alright?"

"Of course, I'll do my best to keep an eye on her when ever she's over to visit Shinji and Asuka." Speaking of, she had to get home soon, or else the possibility of the three being alone without supervision would come to pass. "Thanks for explaining that, Ritsuko. If I understand it, I can help them train in it better."

"Indeed. Oh, before you go..." Ritsuko trailed off and held up her cell phone. "Maya wants to know if you and Kaji want to come to dinner tonight."

"I dunno, the last time we three hung out, I wound up naked in Maya's apartment and my clothes in her washing machine." Misato wasn't sure she'd be up to anything crazy for the time being.

"Relax, we'll keep it in check for Kaji, since he has too much penis to be part of a proper girl's night out." Ritsuko liked Kaji, after all, he had pretty much swept Misato off her feet and helped bring the girl fully from her shell. "Besides, you know she was kidding about you two being engaged."

"I know, I know. I'll give him a call okay? No promises." Misato bit her bottom lip for a second, a nervous habit of hers whenever she wanted to do something but she wasn't sure she'd be allowed to.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Ritsuko held up her hands in a mock show of innocence, before grinning fiendishly. "If he doesn't want to come, we'll be gentle. Maybe."

"You're not helping." And here Misato thought monogamy would could Ritsuko of her sex fiend ways. Oh well, can't be right all the time.

"I'm supposed to be helping?" Ritsuko laughed at the glare Misato leveled her way, ducking down a sudden hall.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Shinji found himself at home alone, a rare occurrence since Asuka moved in with them. Kaji had his own place and had appointed Misato co-guardian, and there were many jokes had on the appointment ceremony. At least until Misato started chasing him around the building, but he was expecting it and loved every minute of it.

Coincidentally, it was rather hot out and Shinji felt the need to bathe to cool off. He envied Pen-Pen who got to live in a fridge all the time and never worry about the heat, well, as long as there was power that is. Anyways, Shinji stood before the door and amused himself reading the sign on the changing room door.

'Beware of surprise events, always knock before entering. Violators will be shot.'

Slipping into the room, Shinji always asked her what that meant, only for his guardian to break off muttering and promptly start drinking. He assumed it was something that traumatized her in the past, like someone walking in on her while she was naked. Though he assumed, as he prepped for the bath, if it were Kaji, she wouldn't mind so much.

Heedless of the warning, Shinji threw open the door to the bath proper, looking over at the dividing wall that covered the toilet, knowing there to be another door just to get to it. Again, it probably had something to do with this surprise event thing, though he understood the logic of allowing the use of the toilet in emergencies. Hell, it was even on a special waterline just so flushing it wouldn't fuck with the hot water.

Unmindful of anything to come, Shinji entered the bath and enjoyed himself.

Time passed and he heard Misato, Asuka, and Rei arrive, which meant he need to get out of the tub. Too engrossed with making dramatic noises like one would expect from a scene of Godzilla emerging from the ocean, Shinji didn't hear the door open. He did hear Rei's shocked gasp as she got a full view of his naked form. Well shit. The door slammed closed and Shinji paused for a second.

"So this is a surprise event." He said this calmly, before he started chuckling to himself, exiting into the changing room to get dressed.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"I told you the door on the left is the toilet." Asuka was too amused to be mad about things, especially since Rei hadn't stopped blushing since she had come running back from the necessary room like there was a live tiger in there. "That's why you always knock if going to the bath proper. You can't get to the toilet from there anyways."

"M-m-my a-apologies for i-ignoring your instructions." Damn hormones. Before she could simply throttle them, but taking the lid off all her emotions had left her at the behest of her traitorous body and its wicked impulses. No, she wasn't going to pin Shinji to the floor and do the kind of things that Misato did to Kaji, if Shinji's implicative suggestions were any indicator.

"Damn girl, do you got it bad for him or something?" Asuka switched from amused to concerned in a flash. In the small time she had known the First Child, this was the most vulnerable she had seemed.

"N-no. J-just hormones." Though she did admit he had a ni-Rei violent put an end to that line of thinking. Damn hormones. Logistics were her friend, maybe they could calm her down. "It's j-just that he is a m-moderately attractive male and I am a young woman in prime mating conditions."

"...You're on your period aren't you?" And she didn't seem to be bothered by it, which made Asuka slightly envious. The monthly demon was something she always dreaded.

"P-p-p-p-" Oh shit, Asuka broke Rei's brain. Where's the reboot button? Shinji finally arrived in the living room at this point.

"Was it that traumatic?" If Rei kept reacting like that, she'd really start hurting his feelings.

"Her hormones are out of control." Asuka put bluntly, slapping Rei lightly on the cheek to try and bring her around.

"She's on her period." He said the p word again, and was rewarded by Rei screaming as loud as she could, throwing Asuka off her and causing Shinji to fall on his ass. "Whoa, holy shit!"

"Damn it you two, I can't leave you alone with her at all can I?" Misato was busy putting up groceries and had missed Rei getting a surprise event.

"Don't look at me, she walked in on me as I was getting out of the bath." Shinji managed to regain his feet and looked at the now violently blushing and shaking Rei staring right at him. "I... I should just go..." He started to back out of the room when Rei rocked back on her heels and proceed to dive at him.

"Goddamn it, Rei, calm your crazy bitch self down!" Asuka made a diving save, preventing Rei from reaching Shinji in a display of goalkeeping so brilliant, the remains of England was trying to get her made a citizen and they didn't even know why.

"Oh god, I got to call Ritsuko and have her come help with this." Not that she thought the good doctor would help, but she didn't want to see Rei rape Shinji. Not enough beer to erase that, no sir.

"Shinji, go to your room and lock the door." Asuka took charge of the situation, maneuvering with Rei's squirming to keep the blue haired girl in check.

"Right." Shinji specifically advanced in reverse and got the hell out of dodge.

"Now listen to me Ayanami Rei, you will calm yourself girl." Asuka ignored any sensation she was getting from Rei thrashing against her. She just prayed her clothing would be intact from all of this.

Ritsuko entered the apartment without knocking, arriving in exactly two minutes and forty two seconds. She looked at Asuka pinning Rei to the floor, and looked over to Misato, who wasn't sure what to do. In lieu of announcing her presence, she decided some humor would be nice.

"Aw, damn it Misato, I wanted to be the one to corrupt them." Misato's bug eyed look told her the joke wasn't appreciated. Or tolerated much. People have no sense of humor these days.

"I'll pretend I don't hear you casting doubts on my sexual preferences and ask you stop gawking and help me!" Asuka was losing her grip on Rei, as the girl continued to try and escape.

"Misato, grab an arm and help me get her into the bathroom." Ritsuko took charge then, grabbing a waving arm in a surprisingly strong grip and ripped her out from under Asuka, leaving her kicking wildly in the air.

"You're not going to..." Misato was cut off by Ritsuko's withering stare, and so complied with the Doctor's order, taking Rei's other arm away. Without prompting, Asuka tied up the legs and led their march to the bathroom.

"I have some standards you know." Very few, but she had waited for Maya to get to legal status before she had done anything beyond furtive glances and double entendres with her.

"I'm leaving before I hear more than I want." Asuka slipped past the both, deciding to go check on Shinji.

"So are we chucking her into an ice bath or what?" Misato held Rei even higher, preventing her from using her newly freed legs to kick free.

"No, I'm going to teach her the joys of self-stimulation." Misato waited for the punchline from the good doctor. It didn't come.

"You're serious." Ritsuko nodded and Misato recoiled in horror, dropping Rei's arm, who suddenly stopped thrashing. As much.

"Completely. If someone has a lot of nervous energy to work off, you don't splash cold water on them, you give them a way to work it off." Ritsuko sighed, wondering if Misato would ever grow out of her double standards. But that wasn't important, so we'll move on.

"I don't want to watch, but I don't trust you not to get caught up in the moment and do something untoward to her." Misato crossed her arms and stood her ground.

"Your call, but I don't have to touch her, you know." Ritsuko had only pure intentions here, even if she knew that she herself was a complete sex maniac when she got going.

"If I leave, I'll tell Maya about what happened at the party you threw for me at the end of my first month at NERV." This totally wasn't payback for the embarrassment on the bridge a while back.

"You're calling that favor in?" Even though Maya wouldn't really care. The girl was bananas for her, to the point she could get her to spin in circles singing cocks on a whim.

"You told me to keep quiet about it." Misato knew it was a mostly empty threat, Maya was always an adventurous sort, if judging by her constant comments about a three-way relationship. Misato wondered briefly if that was the secret behind the weird relationship her old roommate had with the bridge bunny. Poor Aoba.

"Alright, stay, but keep out of my sight. I'm being a doctor for Rei but you're an acceptable target." Ritsuko held up a hand to stop the forthcoming protest. "And you know Kaji doesn't care. He loves you Misato, to the point it hurts him in every facet of his life that doesn't involve long hot sweaty nights with you."

Misato sulked off to the corner out of sight, and Ritsuko began her dark work.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Thanks for the save earlier." Shinji wasn't entirely sure he should be thanking her, but he supposed not having his pelvis broke by mach-speed humping was a good thing.

"No problem, it wouldn't due for her to do things you both might regret later." In fact, Asuka was only worried of the possibility that Rei could get pregnant and nothing more. Sure, Shinji was cute and all, but she had known him for a short period of time.

"I suppose." Shinji couldn't be mad, it wasn't like she purposely cockblocked him. Not that he was sure he wanted to get his groove on with Ayanami, but the First Child was surprisingly attractive under all that bullshit that made up her personality. In fact, her sometimes bizarre moments of uncanny valley behavior were when she was the most appealing. And thus ends the author's warped attempt to get into the mind of a fourteen year old boy who didn't even exist.

"I hope they manage to calm her down." She wasn't going to elaborate how or think about it. She didn't swing that way or bat for that team, and she wasn't going to pinch hit either. In fact, Asuka hated softball, which is a weird thing to bring up all of a sudden, all things considering.

"Yeah, I'd hate to have to lock myself up in here for the night to escape the amorous wrath of Rei Ayanami." It was steak night, there was no way he was eating leftovers from glorious, glorious steak night.

"Hmhmhm, yeah." Asuka chuckled and looked at Shinji, taking in his profile in the chair next to her. He was cute, even if he had a mouth that roared at everyone near him. "Though, I suppose if that was the wrath being visited on you, you'd probably be alright with it." She'd call him a pervert but if he was, he'd have been diving at Rei too.

"Maybe. Or maybe there is someone else I'd rather have sexy time with." Shinji looked at Asuka briefly from the corner of his eye.

"Too bad Kaji has already claimed the Captain's ass in the name of his wang ja?" Boy she was crude at times.

"That's not what-" He started to explain himself for some reason, before Asuka silenced with a finger over his lips.

"Of course not dummy." She smiled and leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "And I'm flattered and grateful for that. But that's taking it way too fast, boyo."

Shinji pouted against Asuka's finger, a meaningless gesture since she couldn't see him.

"But in a couple months, who knows. After we've had time to get to know each other enough to see if we want to pursue something more than friendship." She pulled back and smiled, removing her finger as well.

"Asuka." He couldn't think of anything to say. Not even a good snark for her sappy more than friends line. He was slipping!

"But from now on, you'll have to keep your clothes on around me, or I may say damn my logic and ravish you anyways." She struck a little pose before she got up and started out of the room. "It may not be all that good because neither one of us would know what we're doing, but it'd certainly be fun to learn ja?" Then she was gone, leaving Shinji alone.

And thus, Rei wasn't the only pilot who was partaking in the joys of self-stimulation this evening.

End chapter 8

Teaser for Chapter 9 "It Seems the Sun is Still Sleeping":

"Captain." Oh, it was one of the weapon techs. Lei Ti as Misato recalled.

"What can I do for you?" Misato was curious, as the woman worked with the nut who made that chainsaw sword thing.

"Just need you to sign off on the weapon load-out for the next mission." They were getting better prepared. Hell, NERV was bringing in rockets from Japan's former space program just in case they needed them.

"Of course." Misato took the form and signed it. "Oh, and how's Ron doing?"

"Sill stuck on the drill again." Lei sighed, he had been at it since he finished the sword.

"I'll send Shinji along to help." Misato turned to get back to work.

"Can he really help?" Lei wasn't doubtful he could, seeing as he had become the Ace of Project E in general and allowed her and Ron to run amok in the weapon labs.

"He's good at spotting the obvious and telling you if you missed it."

Author note: And that's 8. Not as much exposition as I thought, but I'm trying to keep things in the same ball park unless I have to go word crazy. See you later for 9. And yes, the lesbian subtext is totally plot relevant (no it isn't).


	9. It Seems the Sun is Still Sleeping

Disclaimer: Today's chapter is brought to you by the Speedwagon Foundation.

Author note: It's chapter 9 and we're back to the Angels. Israfel, come on down.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 9 It Seems the Sun is Still Sleeping

by Marik Kurakashi

Time had passed in the form of three weeks, during which the three pilots were busy training and getting used to fighting alongside one another. Shinji was taking to the role of team sharpshooter, with Rei as the team's shock trooper. Asuka had taken to the role of heavy ordinance with a little too much gusto, but enthusiasm was preferable to endless angst and doubt.

As it were, the three pilots found themselves in the middle of a mock battle, their targets rapidly moving dummies designed off of the first three Angels that showed up. And while they could replicate the weaponry of the Angels, they made up for it by coming up with creative equivalent. The Sachiel dummy had a hydraulic rifle that allowed it to simulate the long distance piledriver it showed off on the UN forces. Shamshel's dummy didn't have beam tentacles, but with them administering an electric shock, they were just as threatening.

Sadly, the Ramiel dummies lacked any form of beam weapon, and had to make due with a custom built smoothbore cannon, sent in from those helpful folks in NERV America.

It went without saying the mock battle had turned the training center of the Geo Front into a warzone in no time at all. Asuka and Rei protected Shinji from a Ramiel dummy's cannon, allowing the pilot of Unit-01 to ventilate the core with some nice incendiary rounds. Asuka turned a bazooka on a group of Sachiel and Shamshel dummies, obscuring the immediate area in smoke and dirt. Rei emerged from the clouds wielding a custom built shotgun, the rotating round system allowing her to shred her foes in no time at all.

Unit-01, meanwhile, had taken to a running battle with the Ramiel dummies, doing his best to draw their fire and keep them from helping the others. The HE round toppled one over into the path of another, blocking it from returning fire as Shinji chambered in another incendiary round, silencing the second one in a flash. All told, the battle had already passed five minutes and the teamwork of the Children had them suffering no damage at all.

Everyone who watched that battle felt some measure of pride, from the weapon techs who worked endlessly to make the weapons and ammo, to the brains of the operation who had trained them so well.

They were the best hope the world had of defeating the Angels, as they had pilots capable of controlling the Evangelion without issue. But also because the support and infrastructure behind them was solid and dependable, they weren't out there trying to sabotage them at all. There was a sense of pride and camaraderie that had become the norm at NERV since Shinji's arrival, of whom some would give credit for opening their eyes to what they had ignored before.

Rei was also key, recovering from her injuries to become a competent pilot and capable fighter in her own right had taken all the pressure off their every action. Asuka continued the alleviation, being the best pilot amongst them in terms of training, but also the one with the brightest spirit. The three had formed into a trio that could very well carve out a legend for themselves, as long as they stayed the course.

And everyone at NERV Japan would be damned if they allowed those kids to fall by the wayside.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Captain." Oh, it was one of the weapon techs. Lei Ti as Misato recalled.

"What can I do for you?" Misato was curious, as the woman worked with the nut who made that chainsaw sword thing.

"Just need you to sign off on the weapon load-out for the next mission." They were getting better prepared. Hell, NERV was bringing in rockets from Japan's former space program just in case they needed them.

"Of course." Misato took the form and signed it. "Oh, and how's Ron doing?"

"Sill stuck on the drill again." Lei sighed, he had been at it since he finished the sword.

"I'll send Shinji along to help." Misato turned to get back to work.

"Can he really help?" Lei wasn't doubtful he could, seeing as he had become the Ace of Project E in general and allowed her and Ron to run amok in the weapon labs.

"He's good at spotting the obvious and telling you if you missed it." Misato said in a tone that sounded like she was being respectful to her charge. It wouldn't do to say it was because he could be a real asshole about it now would it?

"I'm sure Ron can handle him." Not entirely a lie, since Ron was one of the few people that could outcreep Gendo when he put his mind to it. And when Lei thought about it, that was pretty damn scary.

"I bet he could." Misato decided not to make any obvious cracks about how Ron would handle Shinji. She bit her lip to stifle a laugh. "I'll go get him, and you can help me put together the briefing for the load outs."

"Of course."

/-\ /-\ /-\

"So this is the weapons division's labs. Funny, I expected a lot more weapons and stuff strewn about." Shinji was walking behind Li Rong, who was helping the young pilot make his way to the drill project.

"Oh, we got interns for that, among their other duties. They operate the heavy machinery you see scattered about to keep things tidy." Li Rong, henceforth to be referred to as Ron, said casually. If couldn't make your interns do the dirty jobs, then why have them?

"At least they have a job here. The Section Two interns look so depressed." Having to guard a box of donuts and the coffee machine in the lounge had to be one of the worst jobs. That or the intern whose only job was to be hit whenever something went wrong. Shinji decided he liked nepotism all of a sudden.

"I don't even know where they get the kids they do for Section Two, to be honest." Ron didn't like thinking about things that had no real answer, so he just focused on the stuff he could answer. More efficient that way.

"So, I hear you have some new monstrosity of a weapon you're working on." Shinji had seen the chainsaw sword, but Rei had already claimed it as hers. Just as well, he thought Unit-01 would look stupid holding it.

"Yes, it was my original project before I made the sword." Ron wasn't offended by the remarks about his creation, he had made it to be crazy looking anyways. "I was inspired when I saw the Fortress Angel using a drill and thought we could use one too."

"Makes sense." They arrived at the lab and Shinji did his best not to stare at the fucking huge drill stationed there. "You... you built this?"

"Not me personally, me and Lei and some of the other techs did most of the work. The interns did the minute details, but the core was crafted by us." Ron knew he sounding like he was bragging, which was good because he certainly was. "I just can't get the damned thing to spin, Simon."

"Shinji."

"Pardon?"

"It's Shinji, the pilot of Unit-01."

"Oh damn it, I've been having him help me so much I spaced out." Ron slapped his forehead, feeling rather stupid.

"Simon's an intern here I take it?" Shinji wasn't offended, the guy was working on stuff to kill the Angels and would have every right to be pissed at him for pushing his nose to the grindstone.

"Yes. He's often one of the cleaners of the work sites." It was a thankless job, but the kid seemed good at it. His adoptive brother worked in the city so they didn't see each other much since Simon became an intern at NERV.

"I think I saw him working with some red haired girl on the rifles." Shinji wasn't going to ask why she had a sniper rifle strapped to her back, but Section Two wasn't watching her every move so he figured she had permission to do it.

"Akagi actually managed to poach Yoko from the JSSDF?" Ron had mentioned she was a sharpshooting expert when they had started work on the sniper rifles to be used by the Evangelion, he hadn't expected her to be hired.

"Well, NERV seems to specialize in acquiring the people needed to help us do our jobs." Shinji had been impressed by the sheer number of people who kept getting hired as new jobs became in demand. "There is a sizable number of interns here after all."

"Hell, some of them don't really work here." Ron decided to put off work for now, you really didn't get a chance to engage the pilots in conversation these days.

"Oh?"

"A couple of the interns are some kids who sometimes pop into NERV somehow, so we put them to work until they disappear again." They were nice kids, but the boy could due with some lessons in humility.

"I'd be appalled but you could have just killed them instead." Shinji knew that infiltrating NERV was a federal offense that had a myriad of punishments he didn't care to think about. "Is there a reason for the odd dress code?"

"Ah, you saw Noriko did you?" Ron closed his eyes for a second. "Her father was a captain back during Second Impact, he didn't make it out of the wars. She lives at the school that supplies our interns, being under the care of Kazumi, the other girl dressed like Noriko."

"I see, that poor girl." Shinji was being polite, as her plight didn't exactly move him. But that wasn't to say it didn't affect him at all.

"She's a hard worker, which is why we always yell at Ohta when he hogs her to himself." Ron didn't care if the man was old friend of her dad's, the interns were there for everyone to abuse help them realize their potential.

"Wow, I guess there is a lot of stuff you guys get around to down here in the guts of the operation huh?" Shinji looked at the drill and thought for a long second.

"More than you know kid, more than you know." Ron clapped his hands. "Well, let's get to work shall we?"

/-\ /-\ /-\

"We've got blue signal!" Aoba called out, having noticed it during a routine scan. "Twelve miles to the west, ETA is ten minutes!"

"Evangelion units are being prepped and readied as we speak, pilots standing by for insertion." Hyuga followed up, furiously typing to get everything set up for this Angel.

"We have confirmation of visuals, putting them on screen." Maya did as she said, the image of not one but TWO Angels appearing for everyone to see.

"Wait, two?" Misato bit her lip, not liking this development at all. The hulking forms were gray and orange, their distinct face masks with three eye holes and a core a piece.

"Negative, they are not separate entities! Blue signal frequency in the same in both." Maya answered quickly, processing the data as fast as she could. "They're the same Angel."

"Okay! Since there are two of them, our three units will dance with them. The battle plan is to keep switching from target to target, never engage for more than one attack." Misato ordered, arms crossed confidently as she gave the command.

"Roger that, orders are being relayed. Unit-01 and Unit-02 will engage with melee weapons, Unit-00 will focus on ballistics to help suppression of targets." Aoba called as he issued the order to the pilots. "Equipping Unit-01 with Maglock sword. Equipping Unit-02 with Sonic Glaive."

"Operation will begin once the Evangelion have reached the intercept point." Hyuga added, keeping watch on the Angel.

"So, have they been watching?" Misato frowned and turned around towards Gendo in his perch. "Commander, permission to initiate Hunter protocol!"

"On what grounds Captain?" Gendo wasn't saying no, but he wasn't saying yes. Hearing why they would use that protocol is the best course of action.

"While I have faith in our pilots and tactics, I want to be sure if we have to escape, we can keep the Angel away without an N2 mine." Misato reasoned that the less they relied on the big bombs, the more capable they would be to fight out of these sticky situations.

"Very well, Captain." Gendo turned to Fuyutsuki. "Sensei, get the UN on the line and tell them that we're enacting the Hunter protocol." Said protocol was a three way operation using a large number of air support like Predator drones and gunships to suppress a given target by forcing it to defend itself.

"Understood." The Sub-commander saluted and took his leave.

"I applaud your quick thinking, Captain Katsuragi." Gendo said, loud enough for Misato to hear. "I too believe in them, but the better we cover ourselves, the more likely we will succeed. We were caught with our pants down before, but we survived. Whether luck or skill, we're here."

"We make mistakes to learn from them." Misato finished for him, remembering that he had said much the same after Rei's accident. "And we have learned so much."

"And that knowledge is why we're so very dangerous." Gendo remained impassive, watching the video feed with his usual stoic front.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"This is Unit-01, we have arrived at the intercept point and have visual confirmation of the Angel. Unit-02 and I are ready to mobilize and engage at your mark, command." Shinji handled the protocol procedures, leaving it to Rei and Asuka to assess the threat of the Angel, Israfel, posed.

"Copy that pilot Ikari, you and pilot Soryu are to engage immediately." Maya responded over the radio.

"Roger." Unit-01 hefted the Maglock sword and stared at the approaching Angel. "Ayanami, lay down some fire the left body, Soryu and I will take the right first."

"Got it." Rei said, hefting the custom made heavy assault rifle built for Unit-00 specifically. It was larger than three pallet rifles taped together, carried more rounds than anyone could possibly need, and to top it off it came with three modes of fire. Unit-00 squeezed the trigger and showered Left with a spray of bullets, which were blocked by the AT-field, but halted that half of the Angel's progress.

"Come on!" Asuka roared, slamming the glaive into Right's AT-field, pushing it farther away from Left. Speaking of Left, it came charging at the back of Unit-02, only to be blindsided by Unit-01 nearly slicing it in half with the Maglock.

"Switch!" Shinji yelled, as Unit-01 and 02 rotated their positions, with Rei hosing both bodies down to prevent Israfel from attacking at all. They each clashed with their respective targets again, failing to do damage but keep the Angel from unifying its own attack.

"Once more!" Asuka was getting into it, as she cranked Unit-02 into the switch with great enthusiasm. Another clash and they had sufficiently pushed them apart.

"Together on one!" Shinji called, Asuka abandoning Left to come and attack Right. Rei held Left in position with her fire, the shotgun at her feet itching to be used. Shinji and Asuka pressed Right, attacking without worrying of bringing down the field. They would first check and see if there was a limit to the distance they could be separated.

"No signs of any decay in the target and they've been separated by 300 yards." Maya called up to Misato.

"Rei, get in there and kill the Left one." Misato had a hunch she wanted checked out.

"Order received." Rei said, gently putting down her rifle and picking up her shotgun. With a frightening quickness, Rei shoulder checked Left as it sought to aid Right before jamming the shotgun into its gut. "Die." She pulled the trigger, the roar of the shotgun drowning out the sound of Left's torso being gruesomely ripped apart.

"Blue signal weakened but not gone. Left is likely still alive." Aoba called, and as if to prove him correct, one of Right's eyes glowed, the damage done to left reversing itself in seconds. It stood up and roared.

Unit-00 punched it in the face.

"Fuck you!" Rei punctuated this by firing off a flechette round into the stumbling Angel's body. Right's eye glowed again and Left was back to normal again. Unit-00 kicked it in the face, sending it flying away.

"Healing abilities confirmed. Left and Right seem to be able to heal one another." Hyuga noted, entering this data into the MAGI for later analysis. Well, Left's healing ability was assumed, but that had more to do with a highly probably conjecture on the bridge crew member's part.

"This isn't good." If only because the pilots wouldn't last forever and if it became a battle of stamina between an endlessly regenerating foe, Misato knew they would lose. "Order the pilots to conserve their energy if necessary, I don't want this to come down to attrition."

"Order relayed, ma'am!" Maya replied, gritting her teeth. Lucky bastards.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Let's finish this up soon, we have them on the ropes." Shinji flexed his fingers a bit before regripping the controls.

"But how do we do that? They keep healing each other!" Asuka shouted as she bisected Left again, only for Right to heal it midair.

"Kill them at the same time?" Rei suggested as she picked back up her assault rifle.

"Alright, Ayanami and I will corner them into a line so you can use the glaive to impale both their cores fast enough for them to both die." Shinji called out as he charged forward, Rei maneuvering around for a shot on the two halves of Israfel. Shinji got within range and swung with all his might, only for his slash to miss as the twins back flipped away.

"The hell are they doing?" Rei asked, even as she tried to line up a shot.

Both halves of Israfel struck a pose... before turning on heel and running away as fast as possible. Wait, were those tears? Needless to say, everyone was dumbfounded by one of the previously thought to be fearless Angels running like a proverbial bitch.

"The... the Angel has ran away. Blue signal can't be confirmed anymore." Aoba was stunned, but not enough to voice the data he had been given.

"Retrieve the Evangelion, there's no need to stay there. The UN and JSSDF should be put on alert for any future activity." Misato ordered, shaking her head. Did it really run in fear, she really wondered about that.

End Chapter 9

Teaser for Chapter 10 "Cry Me a Future, Where the Revelations Run Amok":

"So Ritsuko, what you're saying is.." Misato shook her head, refusing to believe what she was hearing.

"What I am saying is that most likely, the Angel ran because it had been expecting just two Evangelion." Ritsuko sighed, having explained this in detail before.

"Who knew they were so sensitive?" Asuka commented from the side, looking at Shinji, who had fought the most.

"The first two were crybabies." Shinji shrugged, looking not at all surprised at Israfel's sudden cowardice.

"So logically, we should have two units engage the Angel." Rei added, looking out at the screen as they received word of the UN and JSSDF began to mobilize in accordance to the Hunter protocol.

"Overlord, this is Hunter-1, we are moving to form a defensive barrier around Tokyo-3 as agreed." One of the UN commanders radioed in to inform NERV. "Our mission isn't to try and kill the target, just delay it, correct?"

"That is correct Hunter-1. Keep your men safe and good hunting."

Author note: And that's 9. With this chapter, have I exhausted all the references I could fit into this story? (Signs point to no). See ya for 10 soon.


	10. Cry Me a Future

Disclaimer: I exist in the space between laughter and sorrow, which is why I laugh at tragedies and frown at comedies.

Author note: It's chapter 10 yo. Israfel ran away but the Angel, like Heroes, comes back. It's gonna be a wild ride, so strap in.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 10 Cry Me a Future, Where the Revelations Run Amok

by Marik Kurakashi

"So Ritsuko, what you're saying is.." Misato shook her head, refusing to believe what she was hearing.

"What I am saying is that most likely, the Angel ran because it had been expecting just two Evangelion." Ritsuko sighed, having explained this in detail before.

"Who knew they were so sensitive?" Asuka commented from the side, looking at Shinji, who had fought the most.

"The first two were crybabies." Shinji shrugged, looking not at all surprised at Israfel's sudden cowardice.

"So logically, we should have two units engage the Angel." Rei added, looking out at the screen as they received word of the UN and JSSDF began to mobilize in accordance to the Hunter protocol.

"Overlord, this is Hunter-1, we are moving to form a defensive barrier around Tokyo-3 as agreed." One of the UN commanders radioed in to inform NERV. "Our mission isn't to try and kill the target, just delay it, correct?"

"That is correct Hunter-1. Keep your men safe and good hunting." Misato answered, sighing as they went back to the drawing board on how to kill Israfel.

"How long do you think they can hold out?" Shinji was just a tiny bit concerned by the idea of chucking the normals to the fire against the Angel.

"Indefinitely as long as they stick to the plan in the protocol." Misato answered easily. "If they're smart, when they see the Angel, they'll stick to the Predator drones first. The missiles won't do shit, but if the drones are shot down, there's no loss of lives."

"As soon as we have a capable plan, we'll call them off and come in." Ritsuko decided to help Misato placate the worrying pilots.

"Okay, so what do we do about the Angel?" Shinji nodded and put it from his mind for now.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Keep an eye out for the target, we need to keep it busy for NERV. No manned vessels for the opening engagement, follow the protocol's safety measures at all costs." Hunter-1 radioed to all of his troops, a large number of which were personnel who were controlling the Predator drones.

"Roger that sir." This was the general response.

"Hunter-1, this is Recon-6, we have visual confirmation of the target, uploading coordinates and evacuating." And like that, it was on.

The first missile did little damage, but served to annoy the Angel. Left looked around as Right stalked from the smoke cloud left by the explosion. The second one missed as the two halves moved in an uncanny fashion, only to walk right into the third. Now, they were mad, the two halves stampeding about like wild cattle.

A fourth attack was thwarted by an AT-field, and a fifth got punched out of the air. Israfel wasn't taking this shit lying down, much the same of which could be said for the UN/JSSDF super forces, which responded with seven simultaneous missile strikes. While it did little damage and only served to infuriate the target all the more, they were doing their job perfectly.

Israfel wasn't moving any closer to Tokyo-3.

No matter how they looked at it, all they could do was delay the Angel, hell that was the entire point of the operation. But it hurts your pride a little, knowing that you were less than fodder, because at least cannon fodder had a point of being there. These combined forces, more than enough to conquer most any army, were nothing but helpless children before Israfel.

But did they sit back and cry? Hell no! They let the Angel have it with whatever they could manage. Missiles continued to rain in as gunships began making their way to the fight. So they couldn't kill it, nor could they damage it severely without using an N2 mine. But did they despair and give in to the urge to fling big bombs at it until the land was glass?

Of course not, because NERV was here and they would save the day, and so they held on, believing in the organization created to kill this beast.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"So we have to send two Evangelion out to meet the Angel?" Misato wasn't sure she liked this idea, but it sounded better than any other suggestion that was made. They were not going to glass the area around Tokyo-3 damn it.

"Ideally, as a quick bit of variable crunching shows the Angel will keep running from all three." Ritsuko was beginning to wish they would just start chucking N2 mines at the blasted thing. It'd be faster than relying on a duel of some kind.

"I'll go." Shinji volunteered immediately. "I'm not letting it play keep away with us."

"Me too." Asuka jumped in before Rei, who looked both angry and despondent at the same time. "Shinji and I have worked together to sync Unit-02, we'd be the best choice to fight two-on-two with the Angel."

"I suppose so. Unless one of you wants to step aside for Rei, we'll begin prepping Unit-01 and 02 for launch." Misato looked at Rei, biting her lip as the other two simply turned to get ready.

"Misato." Ritsuko started, only to be silenced by an upraised hand.

"I know, I'll take care of her." Misato then walked over to Rei. "I'm sorry you got passed over Rei, but they volunteered first and they made a good case for themselves. I would have kept it open but we can't afford to wait any more than we already have."

"It's... it's fine. Don't worry about it." Rei didn't sound very convincing.

"No, it's not fine or I wouldn't have to be saying this to you." Misato sighed, before saying what she didn't really want to. "Look, Rei, I don't think I should say this, but your emotions have been spiraling out of control since you met Shinji. They haven't affected your sync ratio or your performances, but they are making you whiplash from mood to mood more than before. I don't have any reason to say this other than as a friend, I want to make sure you're in good mental health. As such, I'm ordering you to take a vacation from piloting for a bit and get yourself under control before it does become an issue. I want to be able to put full faith in you and not wonder if this battle is the one you snap." Finally saying her piece, she turned away from the hurt, almost profoundly aching look on the face of the First Child. She accepted the slap to the face without complaint, nor did she try and stop the girl from running away, feeling horrible for essentially removing her from duty over the conjecture that Rei would snap.

"You did a brave thing, Captain." Gendo appeared as if summoned by something, promptly scaring Misato horribly. "It takes a great leader to care about their followers. I was right to place Project E in your hands."

"I wish I had a better way of saying it." Her cheek stung, but not as much as her conscience.

"Do not fret, as I will go and explain it to her. I will make her understand that it is for the best that she get herself under control." Gendo looked ahead, past Misato and all the walls. "She'll be at my office, crying under the desk. It's what she did when she first failed her sync test with 00. Fear not, she is made of stronger stuff than she has shown. She will recover, maybe not for the next operation, but for the next one."

"Tell her I'm sorry, would you?" Misato turned to get back to work and killing Israfel.

"I will, though you have no need to be." Gendo almost smiled, his face twitching into a warm smirk. It creeped Misato out big time. "This to, shall pass. Go forth Captain, there is work to be done."

/-\ /-\ /-\

"This is Hunter-1 to all troops, be advised, NERV is redeploying the Evangelion. As such, our job here is finished. Once they have engaged the Angel again, we will withdraw from the battlefield. I repeat, once the target has been engaged by NERV, we will be withdrawing. Is that understood?" Hunter-1 gritted his teeth, they had survived a full twenty minutes against Israfel without sustaining a casualty beyond a few drones.

"Sir yes sir!" This was the general response to the order.

"This is Shinji Ikari in Unit-01, just hopping on to say thanks Hunter-1, you did your job well." Shinji wasn't trying to patronize the man, they had fought the Angel to a standstill without the Evangelion. "As much as I'd like you to continue until you kill it, I'd rather take a guaranteed win over any other."

"This is Hunter-1, saying good luck pilot. Kick its ass for us would you?" Hunter-1 managed a smile, despite everything that should have made him frown.

"You got it." Not that he needed to say it, but damn it, he was gonna be a badass for once.

"We're almost there Ikari, look sharp." Asuka wasn't raining on his parade, just letting him know that the battle was about to be joined.

"I hear you, Soryu. Let's get this bastard and go home." Shinji hefted the Maglock once, just to remind himself it was there. "So how do we do this?"

"Hit 'em fast, hit 'em hard, make sure they die." Asuka tapped the Sonic Glaive once, just to show she was thinking, _always_ thinking. "But let's not get sloppy now and make sure to watch each other's backs."

"Got it, we're reaching the battlefield." The Evangelion roared forth, clashing with each half of Israfel in a display of power that shook the area. The tag team match of the millennium, short as it was, was on.

Left immediately swarmed Unit-01, targeting the Maglock in an effort to disarm his foe. This wasn't the blind charging of before, but a series of calculated attacks that pushed Shinji back on his heels. In contrast to the first battle, the Angel was now playing divide and conquer against the Evangelion. No words were exchanged between the pilots as they fought off the vicious assault.

Right, working her way around the reach of Unit-02's weapon, seemed to be the faster of the halves. Unlike Sachiel and Shamshel, Israfel held a secret cunning that rivaled the intelligence shown by both Gahgiel and Ramiel. They were no match for the three Evangelion, so they convinced them to come with just two.

Misato felt sick, seeing the trap begin to form in front of her eyes.

"Soryu, drop your weapon, they're targeting them." Shinji cried as he let go of the Maglock and locked hands with Left.

"Right!" Asuka followed suit and began exchanging punches with Right.

"It's broken down into a tag team match." Maya exclaimed, as Fuyutsuki and Gendo entered the bridge.

"It takes you back, doesn't it Ikari?" Fuyutsuki waxed nostalgically, smiling as he watched the battle progress.

"That it does, Sensei. Those were some wild times in Osaka weren't they?" Gendo looked on sternly, memories flashing back to a time before Second Impact. The world championship was it? Ah, good times.

"You were a beast." Still are, but Fuyutsuki decided to be polite. For now.

"The match appears to be even." Hyuga interrupted, as Unit-02 kicked Right in the face. Unit-01 was grappling as best it could with Left, the stalemate looking to go unresolved.

"It doesn't appear that either pilot is exerting much energy." Aoba added in, monitoring the vitals very dutifully. "If they pace themselves, stamina won't become much of a factor."

"They weren't pacing themselves before, after all." Maya put in, covering the earlier battle.

"That's good," Misato said, before realizing. "Couldn't we have just had them pace themselves earlier?"

"No, because the Angel ran away. We still don't know how to kill it anyways." Ritsuko entered in to the discussion with some facts.

"Let's hope they figure it out." Misato tried not to sound worried. She succeeded, mostly anyways.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Unit-01 kneed Left in the face, following this up with a right cross to the same area. The Angel stumbled, but blocked the left hook before coming with a left uppercut. Shinji managed to pull out of the way but was pushed off his offensive. Left came surging forward with a series of punches, none of which came close to hitting but served to keep Unit-01 off balance.

Right took a kick to the chest and responded with a punch of her own, but the damage was minimal at best. Neither combatant seemed to be doing all that much to the other, save for shaking the earth beneath them with every titanic strike. Asuka nailed Right with a right straight, left upper combo, followed by a stinging backfist that sent it tumbling away.

It was breaking down into a slugfest here outside Tokyo-3.

"We're getting nowhere." Shinji groused as he elbowed Left in the face to force it back.

"If we knew how to kill them, this would be so much simpler." Asuka wasn't exactly complaining, she was having a ball really. She kicked Right again, following with a palm strike that dropped it.

"Maybe, maybe not." Shinji was beginning to think even with the knowledge to kill this pest, that it wouldn't be as easy as they might think. This Angel was a slick customer, despite their first impression of it. He locked Unit-01 up with Left again, the epic test-of-strength ending in yet another stalemate.

"Then suggest something or keep quiet and fight." Asuka wasn't in the mood for a debate about whether they were stinking the joint up or not. Not while fighting for her life, which Right reminded her of with a crazy headbutt.

"I'm working on it." Unit-01 slammed Left down, shattering the ground for what seemed like miles.

"Work faster then." Unit-02 returned the headbutt before the two started exchanging strikes some more.

"Be quiet, I'm thinking." He didn't really mean that, but it was the first thing that popped into his head.

"Well, how about this? We stop fighting individually and start working as a team?" Asuka turned Unit-02 towards Unit-01, which held out a hand. Asuka took the extended hand used it to pull Unit-02 into a flying high kick on Left while Unit-01 yanked itself into a front high kick that dropped Right down. The Evangelion turned and grabbed the opposite hand from before and twisted into a spinning sweep kick that sent the two halves of Israfel into the air.

"And here we go!" Shinji shouted as the Units leaped after the Angel and slammed the pair down with stereo German suplexes. Not stopping there, the Evangelion rolled to their feet, turned Left and Right around before hefting them into stereo power bombs. Still not down, but Units grabbed a leg and rolled their adversaries up into stereo half-nelson suplexes.

"It appears they've overtaken the Angel with some weird form of synchronized wrestling!" Maya reported, shaking her head at the display. "Whatever it is, it seems to be working."

"It's time to finish this, Shinji!" Asuka cracked her knuckles as they prepared to take it to the Angel even further.

"Right, let's go with 'that', Asuka!" Shinji raised Unit-01's left arm and began projecting an AT-field from the elbow. Strangely, the AT-field pulled Left from the ground and started dragging it towards Unit-01.

"Oh ho ho, going for 'that' are we? Hmhmhm! Very well, let's send them to Hell!" Asuka raised Unit-02's right arm and like Shinji before, started projecting the AT-field from the elbow as well. Like Left before, Right found itself floating towards Unit-02.

"ORAAAAAAH!" Shinji yelled, slamming Unit-01's left arm into his captive foe with tremendous force in one massive lariat. Capturing it, he spun and flung Left at Unit-02.

"TOH!" Asuka slammed a palm into Right, rocketing it back into Left, the two halves of Israfel bouncing off and flying back towards the Evangelion that sent them flying. Shinji caught Left and dumped it in a double leg suplex. Asuka met right with another palm thrust, doubling it over before double underhooking the arms and leaping into the air. Midway through a butterfly suplex, Asuka somehow stopped and back flipped without moving Right at all, placing Unit-02 foot to foot with the Angel. The Evangelion rode the right half of Israfel into the ground, another large crater forming from the violent maneuver.

"And now the finish!" Shinji and Asuka yelled in unison, both retaking their earlier stances, though Shinji now had Unit-01's right arm raised instead. AT-fields at full flicker, the pattern spread warping to the point it looked like a giant hand extending out to yank each half out of the ground and pull them towards the Evangelion.

"**CROOOOOOSSSSSS BOMMMMMBBAAAAAAAH**!" the two pilots roared, charging forward and clotheslining each half of Israfel, dragging it along until they met, slamming both halves into one another in a violent collision that somehow reunited Israfel into one being. The Evangelion backed away as the Angel reeled, both cores exposed for all the world to see.

"Asuka!" Shinji yelled, picking up the discarded Sonic Glaive and tossing it to her.

"On it!" Asuka twirled it once before running forwards and brute force ramming it through both cores. Israfel gave no scream and just pathetically collapsed over dead.

"Blue signal has ceased entirely, the Angel is dead." Hyuga said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"So, I guess it was already dead before they skewered it?" Aoba hazarded, wondering why he was getting funny looks all of a sudden.

"Seems to be." Misato breathed a sigh of relief. "And with this, another successful operation is complete!"

End Chapter 10

Teaser for chapter 11 "It's Time to Burn It Down":

"So Rei is on vacation?" Shinji asked, it had been a small number of hours after Israfel when a JSSDF field research crew came across increased volcanic activity in Mount Asama. While no blue signal was recorded, they were paranoid enough to call in NERV.

"Right, Ritsuko and others expressed concern over her rapidly changing emotional states." Misato shook her head. "I wouldn't have said anything, but it seems her getting passed over for last op didn't sit too well and I decided to nip any future problems in the bud."

"Well, alright then I guess." Shinji didn't care, but found it wasn't motivated by any malicious intent or stupid idea to test them. "It's not like you want us to only have two Evangelion right?"

"Duh. Hell, I'd rather have an army of the fucking things if I could." Misato really did hate having to leave everything to the kids.

"That's nice, but Mount Asama?" Asuka politely interrupted the proceedings so they could get down to brass tacks.

"The JSSDF think they've found an Angel egg."

Author note: And that's 10. See ya soon for 11 and Sandalphon. Who knows, maybe we'll see that drill that's being worked on? Also, yes, Rei's vacation is a terrible plot device, but let's see where it goes okay? Bye now.


	11. It's Time to Burn It Down

Disclaimer: Now with 1000% more stuff. Yay.

Author note: It's chapter 11 as we deal with the forced vacation of Rei Ayanami as well as the mystery of Mount Asama. Let's do this!

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 11 It's Time to Burn it Down

by Marik Kurakashi

"So Rei is on vacation?" Shinji asked, it had been a small number of hours after Israfel when a JSSDF field research crew came across increased volcanic activity in Mount Asama. While no blue signal was recorded, they were paranoid enough to call in NERV.

"Right, Ritsuko and others expressed concern over her rapidly changing emotional states." Misato shook her head. "I wouldn't have said anything, but it seems her getting passed over for last op didn't sit too well and I decided to nip any future problems in the bud."

"Well, alright then I guess." Shinji didn't care, but found it wasn't motivated by any malicious intent or stupid idea to test them. "It's not like you want us to only have two Evangelion right?"

"Duh. Hell, I'd rather have an army of the fucking things if I could." Misato really did hate having to leave everything to the kids.

"That's nice, but Mount Asama?" Asuka politely interrupted the proceedings so they could get down to brass tacks.

"The JSSDF think they've found an Angel egg." Misato went on with the briefing, bringing up a picture of the volcano, before tapping a key to bring up a thermal scan. "All attempts to verify if it is there or not have failed, but the increase in activity of the volcano is scaring people left and right. As crazy as it sounds, Mount Asama was predicted to blow in twenty years, now we got a handful of days at best from new data being worked on."

"I have to say that sounds rather ridiculous." Shinji aimed his critique at the notion, not the woman delivering it. Shooting the messenger when you lived with them was a huge faux pas. "I'm no scientist but I don't think volcanic activity works like that."

"I am a scientist, not a geologist but I did study it for a credit way back when, anyways that's not important. The thing to note is that they forget it is next to impossible to predict when a volcano will erupt, just the likely hood increases with seismic activity and new gas emissions. They're reacting to the fact that the volcano is now hotter than it was last week. Safe to say, it's bullshit and the Angel just gave itself away." Ritsuko gave the scientific explanation, which was longer than anyone cared for.

"A simple 'they're so full of shit it's coming out their ears' would have sufficed." Shinji shook his head and looked back at the screen. "So somewhere, deep in the Earth, an Angel sleeps. I think I played a game like that once."

"Anyways, do we know where this Angel is in there?" Asuka moved away before anyone could notice the paint drying on the wall no one looks at.

"No." Misato seemed upset by this. "The JSSDF have the brilliant idea of sending in an Evangelion to go and see, like it's a giant spelunking robot." The Commander _laughed_ at that, but had the tact to cut off the communication before he did.

"If you knew what the Evangelion really are, you'd strain yourself to figure out the robot part." Ritsuko interjected, being deliberately enigmatic in a way sure to piss off everyone. Sure, she couldn't say that 00 and 02 were made from the hacked apart corpse of Adam, nor mention that Lilith was garishly cut apart for 01 as well. Which means that they're alive and all the powering shit was to keep it restrained. And it'd be impossible to convince them to pilot again with the realization they were being injected into the brain of a living being to further puppet their movements. Wow, that sounded really horrifying now that she thought about it. "And on that note, I'm never sleeping again."

"Well." Misato paused to shoot Ritsuko a questioning look. "Well, it's like this: They figure that we're the expert so we of course have some magic equipment to just bypass all that magma and stuff and find it."

"Yeah, and if we had that, it would've been done already." Shinji rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You don't support this do you?"

"Not officially, but we might be railroaded if we don't come up with an alternative fast." The JSSDF were still chewing on their hankies in polite disdain if Misato had them pegged right.

"We know where the Angel is. We know that it will emerge with the eruption of the volcano. In short, we know the who, what, the where, the when, and the why. So here's what we're gonna do! We're gonna evacuate the surroundings, we're going to dig lava trenches to divert the flow, and then! Then! We're gonna kick the living shit of this Angel, because that's just what we do!" Shinji's ire at the stupid plan made his blood a little hot.

"But that's crazy!" Misato agreed with the sentiment but it was phrased like a cocky madman. "There's so many things that could go wrong. What if one of the trenches fail or we miscalculate where it will go? The countryside could be ruined!"

"Yeah, and what if this Angel is the most badass of them all and it manages to beat us? What happens then?" Shinji wasn't arguing with Misato, but the argument she put forth. "And you know what? I doubt that, I really do. But I think of why it's hiding in that volcano and I think, 'gosh, maybe it's hiding to surprise us with our backs turned?'. And then I think, 'Or maybe it isn't ready and is hiding until it is, defenseless except for the magma security blanket.' But than I realize, that deep down inside it, it's hiding because it is afraid of us. The Angels were so far above humanity that this should have been an easy romp, but I killed the first two without a scratch, then we outsmarted the big diamond thing. Then we carved up the big fish guy and then the Dunder twins. I would be afraid of what killed those guys, but then I'd have to be afraid of myself, Asuka, and Rei. And I don't fear me, which is why I can stand and fight."

"So what are we to tell the JSSDF?" Misato felt an immense sense of pride, simply because Shinji was standing up for what he believed in. Not that he hadn't before, but this wasn't laced with ad hominem attacks.

"Grab a shovel and get digging, we got an Angel to wait out."

/-\ /-\ /-\

"So what has NERV decided?" The representative of the JSSDF inquired when Misato contacted them.

"We're going to prepare for the volcano to erupt and deal with the Angel when it emerges." Misato said, crossing her arms in an authoritative manner.

"Now see here Ms. Katsuragi." The rep started, only to be cut of by Misato clearing her throat.

"NERV is not your underling that you bully into doing what you want. We're here to kill the Angels and nothing more." Misato refrained from shaking her head.

"With all due respect, this volcano is nothing to sneeze at, to think you could contain its eruption is foolhardy." The man was trying, you had to give him that. If you were being charitable that is.

"If you're referring to the Tenmei-3 eruption, that happened 232 years ago. The odds are slim of that happening again, and in fact, it'd be better for us, because we'd just peel off the Angel's field and let the lava melt the fucker." Misato had done her research it seems.

"I can see you won't listen to reason." Oh no he did NOT try to act like his request was reasonable in the first place.

"If I'm not listening to reason, it's because you're not saying anything in reason. NERV has only 3 Evangelion, to send one down to see if we can find the needle in a thousand burning haystacks isn't the best idea. There are no back-ups here, we aren't sacrificing a pilot and an Evangelion just for your snipe hunt." She narrowed her eyes and uncrossed her arms. "We know where it is, we know where it will appear. We will be ready, because we're NERV, it's what we do. Now you can go grab a shovel and help us dig or shut up."

"Very well." He hung up, without a word of whether they'd help.

"Meh, I think it went well." Misato spun on heel and decided to start bossing people around.

/-\ /-\ /-\

We move up a couple days and find ourselves at zenith. The Angel will be emerging in oh, fifteen minutes, no worries. Actually, that would be a good thing to worry about, but NERV was sitting in wait for it, so maybe everything will turn out okay.

"Hey, Shinji." Asuka decided to pass the time talking to Shinji. Inside Unit-02, she had been thinking, as she was wont to do, about Rei's sudden vacation.

"What's up?" Shinji was getting bored, so he didn't mind the interruption.

"You think Rei will be back? Anytime soon that is." The First Child was oddly endearing in her own way, Asuka thought so anyways.

"Of course, but then, I know she's the strongest one of us here. How many times are you ordered to take time off to prevent a breakdown? I know I would have snapped far sooner than she would have." Shinji, for all his bluster, admired Rei after a fashion. After all, instead of becoming a stand-offish bitch about his warped way of dealing with people, she instead went with it. You had to respect people who are willing to grown and change for the sake of other people.

"Mm, I suppose that's true." Asuka knew what it was like to deal with backbreaking stress, the wound of her mother's suicide healed but the scar would always remain. "It just seems odd not to have her around."

"You get used to her after a while, even her occasional slips into the uncanny valley." Shinji smiled at that, snickering a little for some reason.

"I heard you mention it before, but what is that?" Asuka, in the interest of conversation, chose a tangent point.

"Well, it like this, when you have something that looks human but there's just something subtly off and it gives them a creepy vibe." Shinji wasn't sure how to explain it.

"That's not Rei, she looks perfectly normal, blue hair aside." Besides, Misato has purple hair, and it seemed totally natural. Not that Asuka wanted to find out anyways, nor would she bring it up, since Shinji had been living with her longer.

"Well, yeah, she looks fine. The problem is that her manner of speaking can become, for lack of a better word, artificial." Shinji wasn't sure how to explain it.

"Artificial?" Asuka puzzled at the word choice.

"Think of it like the old sci-fi ideal of an android: perfectly human looking with a voice to match. It's too smooth and crisp and it makes the person seem unreal." That was the best explanation he could give right now.

"Ah, I get it. Yeah, I can see how that would make someone seem, well, uncanny." For lack of a better word yes? Asuka shrugged and checked the time, ten minutes to go.

"Exactly." This was the precise situation where the phrase "a watch pot never boils" comes into play. Sure, they knew where it was and when it would appear, but the dead zone of waiting was just brutal. Shinji sighed.

/-\ /-\ /-\

We'll skip over the last ten minutes and get to the main attraction, the Angel Sandalphon making his grand entrance! Oh it was a sight to behold, the spike of lava, ash, smoke and what not plumed into the air, for about half a minute before Sandalphon crested over the rim of the volcano. Sure, it did ruin his entrance by looking like a yellow and green shrimp with arms, but it was getting bigger by the second, as evident by the tail starting to shrink and change.

"The Angel has emerged! Rapid cellular change detected, it's adapting for combat outside of the lava!" Maya reported in, watching intently as Sandalphon sprouted wings and glided down to the rim of the volcano.

"Lava flow within expected parameters, the trenches are doing their jobs." Aoba came in next, even as the wings molted and fell off the Angel.

"Shinji here, we're ready to begin the operation." And there's Shinji ready to kick things off.

"Begin operation! Don't let the Angel get away from Mount Asama!" Misato issued the command, as she was wont to do. The hand flourish, though unnecessary, was pretty nice.

"Operation is commencing!" Asuka yelled as she fired her bazooka at Sandalphon, who nimbly jumped with his recently formed legs.

"Target has evaded, it seems to be maturing as the battle goes." Hyuga reported, pouring over the incoming data and feeding it to the MAGI, who would in turn use it to help the pilots.

"Got you." Shinji said, firing a round from his sniper rifle. The Angel blocked this with his AT-field, but seemed a little brittle at first. But already, it seemed to be gaining strength, as the round expelled out from the indenture it had made.

"Damn, it seems it's getting stronger by the second!" Asuka fired another shot from the bazooka, which slammed into the field, knocking Sandalphon on his ass.

"Let's close in, Asuka!" Shinji shouted, as he picked up a pallet rifle and charged for the base of the mountain.

"Roger that, beginning interception." Asuka paused to grab her own pallet rifle before she too dashed in to make this a more close range battle.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Unit-01 and 02 have moved in to engage the target at close range." Maya reported, not feeling nervous for once.

"The Angel is hiding in the smoke and ash, feeding Blue signal data to the Evangelion." Hyuga stated dutifully, doing just as he had said.

"Evangelion have entered the cloud, filtering out the lava for thermal optics." Aoba came in next, using a tiny fraction of the MAGI's processing power to do that. Only the Units and Sandalphon showed up on the thermal scan.

"It may be weak now, but it is growing stronger by the minute. Misato, I'm going down to the weapons lab and see if I can rustle up something to kill this thing in one go." Ritsuko took her leave from the viewing party with that.

"We can only hope they have something." Misato was feeling ill at ease, but knowing the alternative could have been a one-on-one inside the volcano made her feel a tiny bit better.

"Certainly seems to be the pickle eh Commander?" Fuyutsuki said to Gendo, watching the events of the battle start to unfold.

"It always is Sensei, it always is." Gendo, man of few words and fewer morals, deigned to say.

"I suppose so. Though it seems as if it's delaying for something." Fuyutsuki decided to prod his pupil, whose odd views tended to cut to the heart of the matter.

"It appears to have the ability of rapid evolution, which normally would be a bad thing for it. But it is in control of it entirely, thus removing the hazard of evolving to fast and falling apart." Gendo savaged the theory of evolution thoroughly, but dealing with a creature that grew wings just to land on the ground before they fell off had already violated it to hell and back.

"So, it's growing stronger but only on the path it chooses?" The Sub-commander mused, rubbing his chin.

"The ability, while it may not seem lethal, is certainly annoying." Gendo clasped his hands before his face, frowning in thought.

"It really is an uphill battle." Fuyutsuki thinned his lips as he contemplated how much longer this battle could last.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Asuka, flank him so we can pin him between us!" It was rough going with all this smoke and ash, but thanks to the blue signal, they could find Sandalphon wherever he hid.

"Got it Shinji!" Asuka charged around to the Angel's right, using her rifle to lay down suppressing fire to keep Sandalphon in place for their pincer.

"We have to keep him up here, it will do us no good if we have to chase it to and fro." Shinji, while hating to state the obvious, really couldn't help it.

"No worries, we can keep it pinned up here for a while." Asuka liked the extra-long cables that allowed them to fight wherever.

"At least until we can come up with something to kill it." Shinji liked killing Angels, they were all so adorable when they screamed their last unmourned and unloved breath. Okay, so maybe he was getting a bit twisted here, but that was par for the course when dealing with what appeared to be giant monsters hell bent on killing the human race. Sympathy for the devil is hard when he's kicking anything remotely cute in the vicinity.

"You like killing things don't you?" Not being accusatory, just joking around. Asuka seemed oddly cheerful for the middle of a life and death struggle.

"Only Angels. Mostly anyways, heh heh." He sounded nervous there for a tick. He recovered by shooting at Sandalphon's face, which really pissed the thing off.

"I get it, the great and terrible Shinji Ikari is actually shy and timid inside." Asuka taunted him while firing at Sandalphon's legs. Man, the Angel was getting no respect here.

"No I'm not, I'm just not a crazed killer is all." Ah, but for the grace of God yes?

"So you say." She was going to milk it for all it's worth.

"Name one thing that wasn't an Angel I killed." Now he was getting annoyed.

"3-F's rabbit." Oh snap, she brought that up.

"That was Touji." You ask a guy to do you a favor and people think you're a bunny killer. He would have asked Rei, but this was before her vacation, so he was afraid she'd boil it for some reason.

"Yeah, but if you went and got the rabbit yourself, it might still be alive." Twisting his words around, how clever!

"Guh, what kind of bullshit logic is that?" Shinji punched Sandalphon away and glared over at where he thought Asuka was.

"The logic of someone who is just arguing for the sake of it." Asuka giggled even as Unit-02 spun into a graceful kick to spike the Angel into the dirt.

"I walked right into that." Unit-01 slouched a bit at the revelation.

"You leapt with both feet is more like it." Unit-02 stood with hands on its hips, looking like it was about to bust out in haughty laughter.

Sandalphon roared at this moment, tired of being ignored.

"Yes, yes, big scary Angel, gonna kill us, yadda yadda." Shinji repositioned himself and steeled for an attack.

And with that, the Angel took to the air.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"The drill is ready for use." Ron told Ritsuko when she finally found him.

"Really?" Last she had heard, it wasn't even spinning.

"I have to hand it to Pilot Ikari, he really figured out how to get the motor going." Ron smirked at that.

"Ignoring your attempt at being witty, what can this thing do?" Ritsuko was the Queen of Double Talk in these parts bub, you don't get into her territory.

"Besides drill through anything you could want?" Ron shrugged expressively, but found his hand that was extending a rude gesture caught. Oops, fucked around too much, answer the question. "It can channel the AT-field through it for a more focused effect. I believe the term was Airspace Control."

"Airspace Control? I've seen some absurd shit, but even I'm ready to cry bullshit." She released him and turned to the drill. "Load it up, I'm going to put faith into your words."

"Do you have that authority?" Ron wasn't complaining, he was protecting his job.

"No, but I know Misato. If I saw it will work, she'll do it. And if she orders it, the Commander will rarely countermand her." Ritsuko turned for the door, before stopping and smiling. "Believe in me, you've done too much for NERV to let you go. Thanks Ron, you're the best."

"Of course I am, that's why I'm here." He paused, smile matching her own.

"It's why we're all here."

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Misato! I found something to send in to the battle." Ritsuko had made it to the bridge in record time. Her secret ability to make hidden passages appear came in handy.

"What is it?" Misato was curious now, Ritsuko looked winded.

"The drill Shinji was working on with the weapon techs." And here was the critical juncture, would Misato argue or not?

"That thing? Sure, why not?" Misato tilted her head for a second before snapping to her job. "Alright, prepare to send that thing to Mount Asama. Alert Shinji and Asuka that it's on its way."

"Roger that ma'am!" Maya called, already issuing the order.

"Tracking the flight path of the transport and ensuring it won't hit the ash cloud!" Hyuga fell in next, typing furiously.

"Updating ETA in real-time, adjusting by flight difficulties." Aoba rounded out the crew, moving the data through the MAGI at a torrid pace.

"Not that I mind, but why didn't you argue?" Ritsuko was curious, not upset, and so awe-struck she had to ask.

"Because I know you and you wouldn't suggest it if it didn't work." Misato turned and smiled at Ritsuko, a tight, friendly smile. "And besides, you believed in me years ago, allowing me to walk from the darkness into the light once more. It's my turn to believe in you without condition, okay?"

"Mm." Ritsuko couldn't really verbalize a good answer at the moment that wouldn't make her look terribad, so settled for a noise of thanks and a nod.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Communication from HQ, they're sending something to us." Asuka said, as she rolled Unit-02 away from the swooping Sandalphon. It had been about twelve minutes since the Angel began his counterattack, but he had failed to score a significant blow.

"Sounds good." Shinji fired at the impact site, Sandalphon hitting the ground in his attempt to smash Unit-02. His AT-field shone magnificently as defended against the attack. "Fucker is getting stronger even more now."

"Don't lose focus, just keep the pressure on him!" Asuka nailed the Angel in the back with several rounds, but the damage was rapidly healed. Sandalphon spun about and tried to attack, Unit-02 was already rolling away.

"How far out is that transport?" Shinji called as he tagged the distracted Angel in the back as well. He bobbed around the counterattack and shot Sandalphon again.

"Three minutes and change." Asuka charged in and kicked the Angel in the face, sending it airborne, where it distinctly failed to come down. It appeared to somehow be floating despite the fact its wings were pointed in the wrong direction. "I don't believe this guy."

"Would you believe that guy?" Unit-01 jumped back when Unit-02 jerked angrily toward it. "Sorry sorry!"

"Tch, I know you have a penchant for the occasional comment, but focus." For once, Shinji's smart ass nature failed to amuse Asuka.

"Yeah, that line sucked too." He made up for his earlier quip by shooting at Sandalphon again. The Angel, no longer in the mood to fuck around, snatched the rounds out of the air and dropped them into the volcano. "Well fuck you too." This was punctuated by Unit-01 letting Sandalphon know it thought the Angel was number 1.

"Keep on the ball!" Asuka scolded Shinji as she blocked Sandalphon who suddenly appeared by Unit-01 and attacked its unprotected back. The AT-field strained as she held the Angel at bay. "Look, go out there and meet the transport, I'll keep him busy."

"It'd be better if we stuck together though!" He wasn't about to leave her on her own against this thing.

"If you go out there to it, we get whatever it's bringing faster, thus we kill it sooner." Asuka smiled before she continued. "You're the Ace of Project E after all, I have full faith that you'll win with whatever is coming."

"Understood, I'll be back as soon as possible." Unit-01 exited the ash cloud and started down the side of Mount Asama.

"Thatta boy." Asuka turned back to Sandalphon and narrowed her eyes. "Now, where were we?"

/-\ /-\ /-\

"This had better be worth it." Shinji had gotten halfway down, when he received an alert that there was the transport just ahead of him. "Hey, down here guys!" This was said over the comm line that all of NERV's property.

"There's Unit-01, we're going down. Begin unhooking the cargo." The pilot informed the tech crew, as he began his descent. "Sorry we're late, the skies aren't exactly friendly."

"No worries, let me see the package." Shinji was eager to see what they sent him. Maybe it as that chainsaw sword thing.

"Opening cargo bay doors." And with that, the drill came into view.

"Ah, ain't she a beaut?" Shinji said as he pulled it free from the transport and attached it to Unit-01's right arm.

"Good hunting, Ikari." The transport raised itself into the air.

"Thanks, I got an Angel to bag." And with that out of the way, Shinji made his way back to the battlefield.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Come on, you freak!" Asuka surged forward and began exchanging blows, a left by her was answered by a right by him. And so it went for a long thirty seconds before they split apart. "Not bad, not bad at all! Now for real!"

The two titans clashed once more, every hit shaking the air around them. Unit-02 nailed Sandalphon with a left cross, but was answered by a right knee to the chin. Unperturbed, Asuka slammed the Angel into the dirt with an overhand right, cracking the rim of the volcano a bit. He didn't stay down for long as he sprang up into a mule kick that put Unit-02 on its heels.

"That's more like it." Asuka was feeling good, even as she wondered how much longer she could keep it up. It was matching her blow for blow and seemed to have a perfect counter lined up for the situation.

Sandalphon surged forward faster than before, catching Unit-02 flatfooted.

"Shit, I can't get the field up in time!" Not that it'd work, but it was a dire situation here.

Just before it could reach Asuka, the Angel seemed to slow down by a fraction, which allowed Unit-01 to perform a kick save.

"Shinji!" Asuka felt an immense sense of relief at the sudden save.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but it looked like you could use a hand." At this point, Asuka took notice of the large drill attached to the arm of Unit-01.

"That's what they were sending?" Oh yeah, Asuka had never met the weapon techs personally.

"Yeah, isn't it awesome?" He pointed the drill at Sandalphon, the bit beginning to spin, while glowing orange.

"What are you doing?" Now she was curious.

"This is Airspace Control. Some call it... Babylon." Shinji replied, as the Angel seemed to slow to both of their perspectives. "This is it, I have him in my sights."

"Go, I'll give you a boost." Asuka began focusing her AT-field.

Sandalphon moved as if suspended in time, unable to put his fantastic gifts to use. Unit-01 surged forward, using the expansion of Unit-02's AT-field to propel him at an absurd rate of short range speed. The drill came forward and buried itself in the chest of the Angel before boring straight through, leaving a clean hole somehow, despite Unit-01 being unable to maneuver itself out of the way of Sandalphon's body.

Before it collapsed to the dirt, a smile seemed to form on the face of the Angel, showing that it had fun with this battle. Both Shinji and Asuka silently watched over him as the blue signal ceased and they were alone in the ash cloud. Neither one said anything, whether out of respect or just not feeling the necessity to speak was up in the air.

And thus, another Angel was dead.

End chapter 11

Teaser for chapter 12 "To let go, **DESTROY YOU**":

"My name... is Rei Ayanami. I am not the original Rei Ayanami, I am but the second of a series. Like a car, or maybe like the Evangelion themselves I suppose." Rei stood in front of ocean, looking upon it as she reflected on herself. Watching the tide was oddly soothing, despite how boring some people might call it.

"I am the result of an experiment, just a clone, not a person. Just a slave, not a woman. Just a tool, not a human. It used to drive me nuts to think about. To worry about stuff like if I had a soul, or if I was a real person. In retrospect, existentialism just isn't for me." She paused her monologue to love at her joke.

"That's not important, not at all. What is important is that I am the second Rei, the first was an incorrigible brat, spoiled rotten by a man thinking himself the puppeteer, but he couldn't see the strings that belonged to him. Many people are afraid of this man, some call him a monster, and rightfully so. But to me, he was the most wonderful man in the world." She smirked privately, as if relishing the story, as if she didn't already know it all.

"To me, that is. To the first Rei, he was just a means to an end, a convenient specter to hide behind when her bratty ass got into trouble. Except the time she decided to poke his favorite fuck stick with some harsh truth. What followed was almost as comical as it was horrifying, the woman strangled her stupid ass without a second thought. I don't know about you, but when I remember it, I laugh." She grew quiet now.

"You see, I have to laugh, or else I would cry."

Author note: And that's all for this one. Rei is coming back, yay. Poor Martariel. See ya next time.


	12. To Let Go, DESTROY YOU

Disclaimer: A character named John may or may not appear, and if he does, he may or may not die at the end. You have been warned.

Author Note: Rei returns and a new threat arises. Let's do it.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 12 To Let Go, **DESTROY YOU**

by Marik Kurakashi

"My name... is Rei Ayanami. I am not the original Rei Ayanami, I am but the second of a series. Like a car, or maybe like the Evangelion themselves I suppose." Rei stood in front of ocean, looking upon it as she reflected on herself. Watching the tide was oddly soothing, despite how boring some people might call it.

"I am the result of an experiment, just a clone, not a person. Just a slave, not a woman. Just a tool, not a human. It used to drive me nuts to think about. To worry about stuff like if I had a soul, or if I was a real person. In retrospect, existentialism just isn't for me." She paused her monologue to laugh at her joke.

"That's not important, not at all. What is important is that I am the second Rei, the first was an incorrigible brat, spoiled rotten by a man thinking himself the puppeteer, but he couldn't see the strings that belonged to him. Many people are afraid of this man, some call him a monster, and rightfully so. But to me, he was the most wonderful man in the world." She smirked privately, as if relishing the story, as if she didn't already know it all.

"To me, that is. To the first Rei, he was just a means to an end, a convenient specter to hide behind when her bratty ass got into trouble. Except the time she decided to poke his favorite fuck stick with some harsh truth. What followed was almost as comical as it was horrifying, the woman strangled her stupid ass without a second thought. I don't know about you, but when I remember it, I laugh." She grew quiet now.

"You see, I have to laugh, or else I would cry. It would be a tragic reminder of how I died in the past, but to be honest, I'm like night to the First's day in comparison. But that's another topic, and I don't want to go into it right now. Anyways, I used to find it genuinely humorous when I was all detached and cold. Back when I thought I was nothing more than a doll, a living experiment gone wrong. Now, while I don't find it straight funny anymore, there's a certain perverse pleasure in knowing that the little bitch got hers." She snickered and crouched down, as if to give her legs a bit of a break somehow.

"But anyways, the Commander was a nice enough guy. I mean, okay, he isn't the text book definition of a nice guy, but nice guys are often dicks with a complex. But he was nice to me, at least, he didn't treat me like shit, like he treated everyone else. And he was nice to me, unlike all the other people who treated me like I'm made out of porcelain and would shatter with the first harsh word." She blew out a stiff breath and stood back up.

"It was an awkward time, meeting Dr. Akagi for the first time. I mean, I couldn't just go, 'hi, I'm Rei and your mother killed me.' you know? I was always nervous about it when she learned of the rest of me sitting down in the vat in terminal dogma. It always felt weird being around the daughter of the woman who killed the First, but it turned out that apprehension came from a different source entirely, which isn't even the point of this tangent. In any case, the Commander was ray of sunshine compared to the good doctor, which is really funny to think of him as some kind of bright and happy force when he's so damn dour." She stretched her back a bit before she blew out a big breath.

"Looking back, it was natural I'd become infatuated with the man. I mean, he was the only person that made me feel human, that made me feel like I could stand on my own two feet and be okay. To me, he was some form of super hero and god all rolled into one gruff and scruffy package. There was nothing sexual there, just a tiny crush that was a simple to understand thing. It wasn't ever going to be more than that, it wasn't ever going to move past that infant stage." She paused and pursed her lips, thinking of her next words.

"I guess I realized I was over him finally when I left. I have his son to thank for that, for tearing off that stupid mask and opening me back up for the world to see and laugh at, and with, as it oddly were. You see, while the Commander was nice to me, Shinji treated me as a person, as a human being, which was huge in a way. The dichotomy between father and son was an interesting split to see, and experience as I did." She laughed to herself and looked up to the sky.

"He was everything to me, the Commander that is, guiding me through my youth with a patient hand. He led me through the turbulence that came with being the Second, with being a doll, a tool with a single purpose. He was my personal deity, so far away, yet so close and tangible. He was real to me, there for the world to see and respect someone of his stature. I was loyal, like a dog, nearly blinded to everything wrong with what was my lot in life." She shook her head sadly for a moment, before she pressed on.

"Shinji, meanwhile, treated me like shit, insulting me to my face and talking down to me. Me! The one who stood above everyone else and was different from everyone else, was just a normal human being to him. I wasn't a special snowflake, I was just some crazy girl with blue hair who was encroaching on his turf and he told me off, which pissed me off royally. It goes without saying no one spoke to me like that, it goes even more without saying that I wasn't equipped to deal with it." She snorted and turned her head, spitting off to the side.

"You see, it opened my eyes again, to the truth of myself and my relation to everyone else. I was human, normal even, not special just because I had been made in a lab. If I wanted to be special, I needed to earn that distinction. I couldn't ride my relationship to the Commander anymore, since he outranked me by being his son. And thinking on it now, it really gets the old engine revving, if you catch my drift." She paused, picked up a rock, and tossed it.

"I guess, what I'm getting at, is that a part of me is inappropriately aroused by Shinji Ikari. A baser side of me, a side I didn't think existed in any capacity. Some might gag at the implications that I'm turned on by being treated like shit, but if that were the case, I'd have died from furiously humping everyone at NERV. But it isn't that he treats me like dirt that attracts me, it's the fact that he's just so real. So there and with it, as it were. That he doesn't pretend with people, that he says it like it is." Her features became feral for a second.

"That and he's a complete doormat when it comes to sex. For all his bluster, the idea of sexual attraction turns him from foul mouth sailor to shy schoolboy. It's cute in a way, especially when he gets caught staring. That little shameful puppy air he takes on just make me want to pinch his cheeks like a crazy aunt. Besides, after seeing him naked, he can only grow in a number of areas, including adding some padding in certain areas." She cackled at her own innuendo filled remark, serving the role of audience as well as speaker.

"What do I mean by that? Ah ah, that'd be telling now wouldn't it? Fufufufu, a good story teller never reveals all her secrets after all. Moving away from that ribald stuff, I suppose the point of all this gibbering is that I have something of a torch for Shinji. Regardless of the true depths of these feelings, whether friendly or romantic, the point is that they're there, and real. Maybe even spectacular, I don't know. Anyways, that brings me to here and now, a full two weeks after my forced vacation and why I'm standing here." Her features twisted into a nasty smirk.

"Little Angel, did you think you could escape my notice? Do you think yourself clever, timing your attack for the coming storm? That just because the power will be out, that you'll succeed where your fellow spawn of Adam have failed? You're a **fool**." She tossed her head back and laughed maniacally.

"Did you forget who I am? Can you not feel me, Little Angel? Allow me to introduce myself then, for the sake of our coming battle. I am Rei Ayanami, the Second of a series. I am made from the remains of a worthless whore who thought herself God and oh yeah, _I am the vessel of the soul of Lilith_. You are an insect to me, one I shall crush post haste. Come 00, we ride to war." Unit-00 appeared seemingly from thin air, carrying the chainsaw sword of Ron and attached to a power truck, one of NERV's experiments to ensure power to the Evangelion at all times.

"Wait for me Shinji, we'll be united again soon." And with that, Unit-00 dove into the ocean, even though it lacked D-type equipment.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Man, this storm is nasty." Aoba muttered to himself as he tuned his bass, a prized Rickenbacker he won in a raffle the day before he was invited to join NERV.

"Do you have to do that while on duty?" Maya shook her head at her fellow bridge crew, wishing he'd slack off when they wouldn't be needed.

"Ah, leave him alone about it. Least he doesn't go to the bathroom for an hour or more and comes back indiscriminately rearranging his clothes." Hyuga would point out the hypocrisy of taking her attention off her own duties to yell at Shigeru about his, but he was too busy not giving a fuck and just trying to head off any potential argument.

"Tch, fine." Maya turned back to her console, deciding not to respond to Makoto's comment, not even making the traditional 'I'm not going to dignify that with a response' quip, knowing that saying that was a response.

"See, it's all good guys. We got time for this stuff right now, you know? So be cool and relax for once." Aoba started to play a small tune, which coincidentally also happened to be the time the power went out.

"Aoba! What did you do?" Hyuga cried, for purely comic reasons.

"It's the storm, not me!" Aoba used his bass a shield.

"Shut up and get the emergency radios and start working on fixing this shit." Maya jammed a radio into each of their hands and then pulled out a flashlight for herself. "I'm going to turn on the emergency generator, get in contact with the city power plant."

/-\ /-\ /-\

The massive form of Matariel rose from the ocean with a dramatic sting of music and a flash of lightning. Her body was that of a giant spider-like creature, with a distinct feature of eyes, lots and lots of fucking eyes. Hell, the eyes had eyes and this made the appearance of this Angel to be really fucking creepy, you know?

She fancied herself the smart one of the lot, Sachiel and Shamshel ran headlong into death. Ramiel did well until he stopped moving, and in hindsight, Gahgiel should have swallowed Unit-02. Israfel didn't do much better, even if he got even numbers, and Sandalphon just had terrible luck. But Matariel was the smart one, following the weather and hiding, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Which, unsurprisingly, was now, especially since Tokyo-3 was completely blacked out for now.

And that meant no Evangelion to stop her from marching in and getting to Lilith, kept snugly inside the Terminal Dogma nailed to a wall to keep her still. What Matariel wanted with the Second was a vague concept, but it couldn't be good for the people of Tokyo-3. Oh and the rest of the planet as well, naturally.

Her pace was slow and meticulous, movements precise to keep them from being detected by anyone out in this shitty weather. In her belly, a nasty acid was cooking itself to perfection, ready to burn through the layers down to the Geofront. The Angels' moment of triumph was here, no one could stop her now!

Unit-00 silently rose from the ocean behind Matariel, its color a brilliant blue.

The Angel didn't notice it at first, but did when Rei slammed a fist into one of the legs belonging to Matariel, which unsurprisingly snapped like a twig. The massive creature heaved a wail and skittered away, the injury fast regenerating, but that wasn't the concern. The Evangelion should be sleeping deep in NERV HQ right now!

"Greetings Little Angel." Unit-00 crossed its arms as Rei spoke to the Angel directly. "I am Rei Ayanami, your opponent this evening."

Leg fixed, Matariel came forward in a rush, but was sent flying back by the impossible flip kick performed by Unit-00.

"As impertinent as all of Adam's spawn I see. You must've thought yourself clever, attacking at this moment." Rei threw her head back and laughed. "Did you think we were so helpless? That the Evangelion were puppets on an electric string? You're hilarious, Little Angel."

The Angel didn't like Rei's tone and spat some of that awesome acid at her. Unit-00 nimbly dodged, coming forward like a specter across the water, slamming a forceful cross into the face of Matariel. The creature skipped across the surface of the water but remained perched, lightning flashing to frame the both in light.

"You thought this was your moment of glory, but as it turns out, it is simply the moment of your violent demise." The Evangelion came forward again and drove a knee into Matariel's face in time with the crash of thunder. Unit-00 followed this with a left and a right, before spinning into a right roundhouse kick that sent the Angel flipping across the ocean in a display of gymnastics that would move even the German judge to give a 10.

No rest for the wicked, even as Matariel came to a stop and started to rise back to her feet, Rei and her Evangelion were there to greet her with a volley of punches. Laughing maniacally, Unit-00 tore off one of the Angel's legs and then used it to stab out one of the many eyes all over Matariel's body. Not satisfied by the horrific shriek emitted by the Angel, Rei ripped the makeshift weapon out and did it again, to an ever more piercing shriek.

In a related story, all the dogs within a five mile radius began humping something violently all of a sudden.

But we're going off track here, so let's try to focus on what's important. Rei raised her makeshift spear for a third pass, but Matariel had the presence of mind to dodge away, avoiding losing another eye. Blood spewing from various wounds that were swiftly closing, the Angel howled at Unit-00 in a display of righteous fury.

"Oh please, don't tell me you're upset by that? I would have thought you lot would start developing a thicker skin by now." After all, the first two Angels died because they were the biggest pair of sissies ever conceived.

A spray of acid was the answer, but this too missed horribly.

"Well, I suppose that's all you can do huh?" Unit-00 pulled the chainsaw sword from the ocean, encased in an AT-field to keep it safe. "Time for the real show to begin." The Evangelion revved its weapon for effect as Rei laugh maniacally.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Emergency power is online, booting up the MAGI and returning the operation center to working capacity." Aoba said, running through the various programs he had to use in seconds.

"Running security check... wait, Unit-00 is missing!" Hyuga nearly shat himself at that thought.

"Outside scanners now online, searching for Unit- blue signal detected, restoring external cameras!" Aoba was flying through stuff that he was libel to set fire to his keyboard.

"Unit-00 has engaged the Angel! Rei is back!" Hyuga calmed down and vowed to check his pants once he got the chance.

"So, is this your answer to everything Rei?" Misato, who had arrived during the storm, whispered to herself.

"We can get Shinji and Asuka out there for back up in twenty minutes." Aoba called, ready to get the prep underway.

"No, Rei has this well in hand." Misato could see the various wounds on the Angel, its blood everywhere even as the cuts closed with great rapidity. "I don't believe in that, 'this is her fight' stuff, and this isn't a situation where that applies. It'll be dead before Unit-01 and 02 get out there."

"Sure seems that way anyways." Aoba agreed, Hyuga quietly sneaking off to the bathroom.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Having fun?" Rei asked in a cheeky tone, revving the chainsaw sword to clear it of blood.

Matariel did something that translated into flipping Unit-00 the bird.

"Ooh, naughty naughty, Little Angel." The Evangelion came forward, landing a three slash combo, before spinning and kicking it into the air, leaping after it to continue the beating, the blood of the Angel mingling with the rain. Unit-00 finished of the aerial display with a pointed kick that sent Matariel beneath the waves, the Evangelion itself landing gently on the surface of the water without a hint of difficulty.

Eight legs surged up from the ocean around Unit-00, which back flipped into the air and cut all the limbs off in one swing. The Evangelion came down with a mighty boot to the underside of Matariel, sending her further underwater. Rei spun to the side and stabbed into the water, catching the Angel right in the head. Unit-00 revved the blade again, sending a spray of gore into the air as she drug the blade down, bifurcating Matariel neatly down the middle.

And for this battle, that was all, the Angel giving a short gurgle as it died..

/-\ /-\ /-\

Sometime later, Unit-00 entered the Evangelion cages with an air of certain triumph. She was back baby, and nothing was going to be the same again. Her mind was clear and her head was in the right place, there was no more time bomb waiting to go off.

"Hey, Ayanami! Welcome back!" Shinji and Asuka had been called in during the interim it appeared.

"Shinji." She smiled at him. "Asuka." The smile dimmed a tad, but she did manage a nod of acknowledgment towards the Second Child.

"How was your vacation?" Asuka didn't react to the alleged cold shoulder.

"Relaxing, really let me put my mind at ease once and for all." Rei closed her eyes for a second.

"Well, it's good to have you back." Shinji said, a thin smile creasing his features.

"It's good to be back as well." Rei said, before coming forward to embrace Shinji tightly.

"A-Ayanami?" Oh, he was blushing now. It was the plug suit, wasn't? Had to feel like she was pressing her naked body against him right now.

"Shh... I missed you." She held him for a little while longer, before letting go. "I've been waiting for a week to do that."

"At least it's not more than that ja?" Asuka quipped, amused by Rei's behavior once more. "Yet anyways, I bet."

"Ms. Langley, I am scandalized by your accusation." Rei managed to finish that, before she broke down laughing.

"Things will certainly be lively from now on, eh Commander?" Fuyutsuki said to Gendo, the pair observing the pilots from a distance.

"I wouldn't have it any other way Sensei, and neither would Shinji." There was a certain, 'that's mah boi' tone in Gendo's voice. Which made it all the more weird to hear him say that.

"I bet he wouldn't." Fuyutsuki smiled as the kids ran off, images of times gone by flickering before his eyes. "Seeing them makes me feel my age sometimes."

"Mm. I suppose it would." The silence held for a few seconds, before Gendo filled it. "I haven't apologized properly to you have I?"

"Hmm?" Fuyutsuki didn't know what he was getting at, but didn't say it.

"About Second Impact, you lost a lot of students and colleagues in it right? A lot of people like family to you." If he were a lesser man, he would be biting his lip in fear. But he was Gendo fucking Ikari, so he just held his ground.

"Regrettably, yes." Old wounds hurt an old man more, they say. The state of the world, the lost splendor they had squandered were all very real pains. But they paled in comparison to the personal loses Fuyutsuki had to endure, Yui being the last of a very painful series.

"I can't expect to say I'm sorry and ask for your forgiveness, so I will try to work off this debt I owe you before either of our times are up. When we stop the Angels and SEELE, I will begin the restoration of the world." Gendo managed the tiniest fraction of a smile, which looked like his face had spasmed and locked up. "It's what the Geofront was made for after all."

"You plan to mass produce the Geofront tech?" To be fair to Fuyutsuki, he was only shocked that it was _Gendo_ saying this. Hell, he planned to steal it from him long before he learned of the original Scenario. But anyways, cut the old guy a break, he's dealing with someone who isn't known for inspiring warm fuzzies with his every action.

"It's a start, but I figure it's the very least I can do to start my penance." Not that he really was into that whole redemption thing, Gendo at least understood that it'd help keep people on his side once they were done with their current workload.

"Yes, I suppose it is a start. Walk with me, Commander, and I'll be the student for once this time." Fuyutsuki turned on a heel, Gendo falling in beside him.

"One cannot know everything, but one can learn everything they have the means to." Gendo quoted what the old man said to him the first time they had met when he was in college. That seemed so bizarrely long ago now. "So how about I share my knowledge with you?" The two walked down the halls of NERV for a long time.

End Chapter 12

Teaser for Chapter 13: "Holding the Hand That Holds Me Down:"

The flow of time went on once more and suddenly, it was four weeks after Rei had returned and curbstomped Matariel into the dirt. But as is customary, the good times and halcyon days had to come to a stop in a sudden, jarring moment. In fact, NERV HQ was dealing with it at the moment.

"These images that were sent from one of our defense satellites. There is an unknown object floating above the Earth, positioned over China right now, drifting to Japan." Misato led the briefing, the pilots seated on the bridge in front of her looking at the screen.

A massive orange shape appeared on screen, its elongated shape twisting into a giant three toed foot, with three large eyes visible as well.

"Always with the eyes." Shinji muttered, having seen the footage of Matariel vs. Rei. At least it wasn't eyes on top of eyes this time.

"It looks stupid." Asuka put in, eyes roaming the picture as she frowned.

"But it's smart enough to hide in space, we can't reach it." Rei decided to get the bad news out of the way.

"Yet." That was all Misato said.

"Yet?" Shinji parroted, now fully intrigued.

"We're working on it."

Author note: And that's 12. Sorry for the anti-climax to Matariel, but when I realized she didn't stand a chance, I just offed her instead of dragging it out. See you for 13 and Sahaquiel


	13. Holding the Hand That Holds Me Down

Disclaimer: So where was I? Oh yeah, Tokyo-3!

Author note: It's a Sahaquiel time kids. How will our heroes deal with him? Let's find out, shall we?

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 13 Holding the Hand That Holds Me Down

by Marik Kurakashi

The flow of time went on once more and suddenly, it was four weeks after Rei had returned and curbstomped Matariel into the dirt. But as is customary, the good times and halcyon days had to come to a stop in a sudden, jarring moment. In fact, NERV HQ was dealing with it at the moment.

"These images that were sent from one of our defense satellites. There is an unknown object floating above the Earth, positioned over China right now, drifting to Japan." Misato led the briefing, the pilots seated on the bridge in front of her looking at the screen.

A massive orange shape appeared on screen, its elongated shape twisting into a giant three toed foot, with three large eyes visible as well.

"Always with the eyes." Shinji muttered, having seen the footage of Matariel vs. Rei. At least it wasn't eyes on top of eyes this time.

"It looks stupid." Asuka put in, eyes roaming the picture as she frowned.

"But it's smart enough to hide in space, we can't reach it." Rei decided to get the bad news out of the way.

"Yet." That was all Misato said.

"Yet?" Shinji parroted, now fully intrigued.

"We're working on it." Misato left it at that, and the pilots could only wonder what that meant.

"I don't know about you, but I get this funny feeling we're going to end up with something crazy when this is all done." This was Shinji speaking from experience here. He made a few snide comments about the weapons and look what they had now. Hell, he wasn't sure why they needed a napalm launcher, but he wasn't going to complain.

"How crazy do you think? Jetpack crazy?" Asuka would pay money to seem them put one of those on the Evangelion.

"That maybe a bit too crazy." Rei stated, before realizing she was raining on the parade a bit. "But it would be pretty cool if it happened. With all the crazy extensions to the cables they've been doing, it wouldn't surprise me to see them fireproof them so we could use a jetpack."

"Well now we have to put that on the list." Misato said to herself, careful not to let the kids know that a jetpack hadn't been on the menu. "Anyways, it'll take it another day to make it over to Japan so we shouldn't worry too much."

"Wait wait, hold up. It just did what?" Aoba had been watching the Angel when a piece of it fell off and entered the atmosphere.

"The Angel has seemingly dropped a piece of itself onto Earth." Maya said, shaking her head as she wondered what was going on.

"It's not burning up, it must be protected by the AT-field." Hyuga announced, stunning everyone there.

"Then, it's trying to use the rotation of the Earth along with gravity to do its dirty work." Misato exclaimed, breath leaving her.

"We have to go." Rei said, looking as the piece slammed into the ocean and kicked up a lot of spray. It was a long way off, but they couldn't let it just drop itself with impunity.

"The Evangelion are being prepped immediately, using the MAGI to track and find an optimal intercept route." Hyuga was already on it, not even waiting for orders.

"But what do we do when we get there?" Asuka asked as the trio speed off the bridge for the cages.

"We'll have to play it by ear." Shinji's face grew grim, letting his fellow pilots know how serious this was.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"The Evangelion have reached the intercept point." Maya announced fifteen minutes later, a tense time spent wondering if the next attack was going to come while they raced there.

"Patching in recent data from the MAGI," Aoba was next, feeding a steady stream of possibilities for the descent of the next piece.

"Running simulations to determine the nature of the Angel's attack." Hyuga came last, relieved that they had made it in time.

"I can see it." Rei was oddly quiet about this, as she turned Unit-00 to face the direction where Sahaquiel lay dreaming in the sky.

"I can't." Shinji said, but trusted Rei and pointed Unit-01 in the same direction.

"I can't either." Asuka admitted, but turned Unit-02 in the same direction.

"Close your eyes and take a deep breath." Rei instructed, knowing that it would be difficult even with her guiding them. "Open your hearts and let go of the doubt that blinds you. Know that it is there, and that you CAN see it."

The other two did as instructed, and when the opened their eyes, they could make out the distinct shape of Sahaquiel in the sky.

"Well I'll be damned, it worked!" Shinji, having faith in Rei, was still surprised it was that easy.

"I can't believe it's that simple." Asuka shook her head and focused on the Angel.

"The analysis is complete... sempai!" Maya called, Ritsuko coming over to see what was going on.

"To think, that is what it's doing." Ritsuko rubbed her chin as she ran this data through her head. "Okay, I got it, patch me through to the team."

"Ikari here, what's up?" Shinji was the one who answered, even if it was directed at them all.

"We've discovered how the Angel did the whole body part drop attack." Ritsuko announced, drawing grins from the trio. That was their support staff alright.

"So enlighten us, Professor. How did it do what it did?" Asuka answered for them this time.

"Our first guess was wrong, it wasn't the AT-field protecting it, but..." Ritsuko left it hanging for them to work out, seeing as they were bright enough kids.

"...firing it through the atmosphere like a railgun, speeding it through re-entry fast enough that it doesn't burn up because the field is actually both shielding it and accelerating it!" Shinji exclaimed, drawing stares from the other two. "Sorry, I've been studying railguns a lot so I had a bit of a nerd moment there."

"What he said is right though, it isn't just dropping the piece, it is using its field to send it through faster in an attempt to outdo the rotation of the Earth and hit Tokyo-3. The lazy motion of it is a diversion." Ritsuko jumped in for back-up.

"But that isn't what's important here." Asuka said, a nasty grin covering her face.

"It's not?" Rei, who had been silent, piped up.

"If it can do that with an AT-field, then so can we." Asuka snickered as the other two adopted similar grins.

"Everyone in position!" Shinji ordered, as they formed a large triangle. "When it fires again, we're gonna have a surprise for the bastard." In an act of pure coincidence, Sahaquiel chose this moment to attack again.

"Readying fields!" Asuka cried, projecting her field.

"Focus on the point displayed by the MAGI." Ritsuko chimed in, already conducting this op well enough Misato sat back and watched.

"Don't try to deflect it back too soon." Rei said, her field joining Asuka's in the sky.

"Just slow it down first, then seize it. We'll throw it back once we have a grip on it." Shinji added, his field to the mix.

"The piece has passed the point of any possible course change." Aoba announced, causing Ritsuko to jump back and thrust a fist out.

"Expand AT-fields now!" She cried, and the Evangelion pilots obeyed.

The piece came to a sudden stop, pushing futilely against the combined field before said field surged up around it and enveloped it. One field kept it straight, as another stretched ahead, forming what could be suggested as the barrel of a gun. The third and final balled itself up behind the makeshift bullet, ready to return it to sender.

"Oi, Angel, you dropped something." Shinji quipped as the AT-field expanded, launching the piece right back at Sahaquiel.

It would be an understatement to say the Angel had been caught off guard. He had thought himself safe in space, away from those nasty Evangelion and their deadly weapons. Alas, he had thought wrong, and in the moment before his improvised shell was returned to him, he realized how wrong he was.

The makeshift bullet tore right through him like he was made of paper, causing a wail of agony to erupt deep from within his massive frame. Blinded by pain, he didn't notice until it was too late that he had be pulled into Earth's gravity and that he was falling to the planet below. His mind wandered for a second, to the stars above and what mysteries they held.

And then he crashed into the ocean, kicking up a small tidal wave and a lot of spray.

He was finished, alive but too injured to regenerate fast enough to form some kind of defense. He could only moan pitifully when they came for him, weapons out and eyes shining with murderous glee. In his final moments before his life was extinguished with extreme prejudice, Sahaquiel looked to the heavens once more and wondered.

With a silent shudder, the Tenth Angel was given to silence and became still. No one would ever know what great epiphany it had on the precipice of death. It was even safer to say no one would remember who this Angel was, nor would they even really care. He was a threat to humanity, and as such, had to die.

No one would mourn the end of Sahaquiel, he who gazed to the stars and wondered.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Well, that was exciting." Asuka said, sometime later after they had returned from killing the Angel. "It went relatively painless, though we didn't have much of a fight."

"I'll say." Shinji muttered, crossing his arms in a fit of pique. "I was hoping it'd put up enough of a fight and we'd have to get jetpacks to deal with it."

"Now now," Rei soothed from his side. "We have to give them time to work their miracles."

"Like a day?" Asuka hazarded, drawing a sharp laugh from the First Child.

"Exactly." Rei grinned and sidled closer to Shinji, for no real reason than to play around.

The boy in question raised his eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Oh I get it, we're having fun are we?" Asuka responded, getting closer to Shinji as well.

And now he was sweating a bit, that pesky romantic comedy nonsense was back!

"You catch on too fast for me to put anything past you." Rei sounded happy about this, even as she yanked one of Shinji's arms free from his earlier pose.

"I'm just that good, I suppose." Asuka preened as she coyly took his other arm.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Shinji wasn't exactly upset, but this was just ridiculous to him.

"No~" The girls chorused as they drug him away for some nefarious purpose. Or perhaps lunch, but if it was the cafeteria, then it became just plain evil.

"They get along well." Ritsuko noted to Misato, the pair having watched the exchange from around the corner.

"It should put my mind at ease, but I worry about those three sometimes." Misato bit her lip for a second.

"Afraid of another surprise event?" Ritsuko had to laugh when Misato jumped straight into the air in a hysterical manner.

"Don't remind me of that!" And on her first day too, no less.

"This is a door." Ritsuko walked over to a nearby door that just happened to be there by sheer luck. "You knock on it if you think someone is in there and wait for them to give you the okay to enter."

"You know, this is the part where I'd growl about how I know that, but coming from someone having sex at work, I feel I should point out how you're dodging the issue by making it look like I'm the one who messed up." Misato crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as if to say, 'your move'.

"Oh come now, not the old, 'why were you having sex at work?' defense." Ritsuko shook her head, same old prudish Misato, even with her drunken escapades and week-long sex fests, she was still close minded about certain things. "As if you'd turn down Kaji if he came on hot and heavy to you."

"I would at least lock the door if I couldn't control myself!" Misato hated when Ritsuko came back to Kaji on every argument. EVERY argument. She didn't know what her having copious amounts of sex with him had to do with time travel, but she figured if that was the only card her old friend could play...

"Alright, alright, I have to get back to my office. I was a little excited after the latest breakthrough with the AT-field and Maya wanted to celebrate." Ritsuko scratched her nose as she blithely changed the subject.

"You two still do it here?" There was a reason love hotels existed for the love of the questionable existence of Christ.

"It's my office, and after you and Kaji celebrated your reunion by testing the weight limit of your desk, I'll kindly ask you to shut the fuck up." Ritsuko was done bantering, now it was time for the big guns.

"In my defense, we were absolutely hammered." Misato blushed, remembering answering the door for Ritsuko buck naked and without listening to what was said, proceeded to bite her on the tit. When she came back to her, she found Maya tied to her ceiling stark naked, Ritsuko slumped against the wall in exhaustion. Oh and Kaji was still balls deep in her, drooling on her neck in his drunken slumber.

"Why do you drink so much when you do such crazy shit when smashed?" Ritsuko really wanted to know this, because loose inhibitions didn't cover Misato's sex fiend antics when all liquered up.

"I dunno, really. It's just, ever since I was rescued, it's been a real comfort to me." Misato preferred this answer to the one where she was drinking to forget the death of her dad. Oh and Second Impact as a whole as well. "Anyways, I'll come with and see how you're coming along with your technique, can't have Maya fall off the ceiling if you fuck up your knots."

"I'd ask why you know so much about bondage, but I don't really think I want to know." Ritsuko so did, but she was being polite to her college buddy by letting it drop. Plus, this meant she could torment her for even longer, yay!

"I wouldn't tell you anyways, no one knows that, not even Kaji." Misato shrugged, hoping for some entertainment out of this mess.

"...holy shit." Ritsuko was stunned into silence at that.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Here it is, just as ordered by the Committee, the embryo of Adam." Kaji said, laying the glass jar on Gendo's desk. "Had to kill some decent folk to get it, but here it is."

"I trust the other package has been secured?" Gendo asked without even looking at the jar.

"The Lance of Longinus was secured yesterday and is being shipped in total secrecy. The only other person to know what is in that plane is dead." Kaji took his job seriously.

"You do fine work, Mr. Ryoji." Gendo smirked to himself, before narrowing his eyes behind his shades. "I trust you have some... questions."

"Just one." Kaji tensed, this was it, what he had been searching for sense he took the gig to infiltrate both NERV, which was Gehrin back then and SEELE. However, he was silence before he could ask his question.

"What exactly is going on? I am correct to assume this is what you want to know, yes?" Now that was unnerving. Gendo's ensuing chuckle froze the blood in his veins. "Knowledge is power and power is dangerous. Why, a mad grab of power is what has lead us here to today. You, fulfilling your role as a spy, and me in my role of the grand conspirator. However, there is a slight problem with this picture."

"And that is?" Kaji was ready to bolt if Gendo made for a gun.

"I am not the grand chess master you think me to be. I am not the man pulling the strings of this world, I am just a man, like you." Gendo grabbed Adam and promptly stuffed it into a cryogenic tube he had installed for this very purpose. "But, fret not, you have just saved the world. The Third Impact will not come to be thanks to you. To repay you for this, I won't allow you to die."

"What are you talking about?" Now Kaji was really getting freaked out.

"SEELE has sent an assassin out to deal with you should you return to them. If I were the callow sort, I would shoot you at this moment. If I were the scheming sort, I'd ensure that no one would know who killed you. But I am no long the unfeeling person of so long ago, so I will not allow you to die. You are a valuable asset and I have a habit of keeping those around." Gendo stood suddenly, causing Kaji to flinch away.

"So what you're saying is..." Kaji tried to make sense of this.

"To SEELE, you have outlived your usefulness. They already know you're playing both sides and are ready to eliminate you know that the job they gave you is finished. But I need you alive, if for nothing more than the continued sanity of our dear Captain Katsuragi. And you have a far better job to fulfill for me, one that will ensure we all get what we want." Gendo stretched his arms, as Kaji regained his footing.

"Can't you just tell me now?" Kaji seemed upset that Gendo was holding out.

"Consider it a reason to keep you on my side and alive. You won't need to play both sides and get killed for it, and I get the best man for this job of mine." Gendo laughed, causing Kaji to shiver in stark terror. "Besides, fool, greater men than you have tried to figure out what is really going on in this world and they are either dead or wishing for it. With this, you are guaranteed your answers and your life. Come and stand at my side, and see the truth peeled back before your very eyes."

"What the hell, I'm in." Kaji extended his hand, and it was shook in short order.

"Now if you'll do me a favor and stay here for the next couple of minutes, the Sub-Commander is going to take care of our problematic assassin. He'll deliver them, without fail, to death. Don't underestimate the man because he is old, he did some wet work in his youth." Gendo let it hang in the air what he meant.

"I'll just nod and agree and hope that no one kills me." Kaji stated, feeling as if there was a joke in there he couldn't see.

"If you think it best." Gendo retook his seat and pulled a bottle of champagne from under his desk. "Now come and have a toast with me, to celebrate you saving the world from Third Impact."

"If you insist, boss." Kaji grinned, feeling as if he had finally taken that step forward to the truth, after all these years.

End chapter 13

Teaser for chapter 14 "I Set My Clocks Early, 'Cause I Know I'm Always Late":

"Rei isn't coming to school today?" Asuka asked Shinji as they prepared for school in the morning, now a full week after Sahaquiel made planet fall.

"Misato got a call from Dad, said she'd be at NERV all day for test, would be done just after school." Shinji shook his head, not wanting to know what was going on there.

"Great, now it's going to be boring today." Asuka sighed in a theatrical manner that managed a slight laugh out of Shinji.

"Am I that bad of company?" Shinji pouted for a second, before Asuka pinched his cheeks and began wiggling his head like you would a dog's.

"Oh no no no! It's just far more fun to mess with her AND you at the same time!" Asuka realized his face and adopted a snooty pose and gave the traditional noblewoman's laugh.

"Gah, don't do that!" Shinji's ski crawled for a second there.

"Do what?" Oh now she was playing innocent.

"You know what you did." He took a step towards her in a threatening fashion.

"So what if I do? What are you going to do, spank me?" She turned around and wiggled her bottom at him, causing him to freeze for exactly 2.7 seconds before his brain fixed itself.

"If I have to." Another step, just in fun.

"Kinky, I didn't know you were into this sort of thing." Asuka spun away from him with a flourish, hands keeping her skirt in check to prevent any accidents.

"Maybe I just want an excuse to touch your ass."

Author note: We'll stop here. See you next time for some filler fun. Hurray.


	14. I Set My Clocks Early

Disclaimer: I am the Author and You will obey me.

Author note: 14 is here, with a bit of a breather for everyone. Let's go!

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 14 I Set My Clocks Early, 'Cause I Know I'm Always Late

by Marik Kurakashi

"Rei isn't coming to school today?" Asuka asked Shinji as they prepared for school in the morning, now a full week after Sahaquiel made planet fall.

"Misato got a call from Dad, said she'd be at NERV all day for testing, would be done just after school." Shinji shook his head, not wanting to know what was going on there.

"Great, now it's going to be boring today." Asuka sighed in a theatrical manner that managed a slight laugh out of Shinji.

"Am I that bad of company?" Shinji pouted for a second, before Asuka pinched his cheeks and began wiggling his head like you would a dog's.

"Oh no no no! It's just far more fun to mess with her AND you at the same time!" Asuka realized his face and adopted a snooty pose and gave the traditional noblewoman's laugh.

"Gah, don't do that!" Shinji's ski crawled for a second there.

"Do what?" Oh now she was playing innocent.

"You know what you did." He took a step towards her in a threatening fashion.

"So what if I do? What are you going to do, spank me?" She turned around and wiggled her bottom at him, causing him to freeze for exactly 2.7 seconds before his brain fixed itself.

"If I have to." Another step, just in fun.

"Kinky, I didn't know you were into this sort of thing." Asuka spun away from him with a flourish, hands keeping her skirt in check to prevent any accidents.

"Maybe I just want an excuse to touch your ass." Misato chose that moment to walk in, which caused the two to freeze in place.

"If you're going to molest each other, please be quiet about it." Misato pushed past them to grab her coat, she was taking them to school after all.

"We'll continue this later." Shinji said, looking at Asuka.

"I'll hold you to that." Asuka managed to keep her voice light and devoid of overt teasing.

"If you two want to flirt, do it at school, okay? But if you're late, you'll be really sorry!" Misato hollered, sending them scrambling for the door.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Another exciting day at work." Aoba muttered, taking advantage of the free time the crew was given to shore up his bullet hell shoot-em-up skills. A cheerful tune bounced from under his headphones, signifying he was only paying attention to the game.

"So what's with the outfit, Ms. Professional?" Hyuga didn't have any great qualm with Maya, but she could be a bit of a bitch to her fellow crewmates when she didn't get laid the previous night.

"My washer broke and this was the only thing clean I had that fit me." Maya looked down in the dumps, she hated this stupid school uniform. Sigh, the things you do for those you love, eh?

"A likely story." Hyuga was going to enjoy this.

"And what's it matter to you huh?" Maya wasn't down for this pick on her for having a shitty washer bullshit.

"Oh, nothing too particular." Hyuga feigned innocence, smirking after he turned away from her.

"Blue panties." Aoba said suddenly, drawing both of their attention to him.

"Aoba what are you talking about?" Maya knew he couldn't see up her skirt, and they were red anyways. "I'm not wearing blue panties."

"No, Hyuga is." Aoba turned up the volume on his music, drowning out the twin shrieks from his bridge mates. This was the good part of the game, he didn't need them distracting him further.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Man those guys are noisy this morning." Misato shook her head, somehow hearing the disturbance on the bridge down in Ritsuko's lab. "We should reinforce the sound proofing, I shouldn't be able to hear them over here."

"Hear who?" Ritsuko could detect the noise coming from the direction of the bridge, but she had learned to tune it out.

"No, nothing. Forget it." Misato shook her head and smiled. "So what do you need me for today?"

"Just updating you on a few things that have been going on." Ritsuko chose the obvious topic Misato was most interested in. "The jetpack project is ahead of schedule and should begin testing as early as next week. We've had a breakthrough in the exhaust issue, so we're getting a prototype built sooner than anticipated."

"Really? I would have thought it would have taken longer." Misato was stoked, but since she was being a professional right now, she couldn't exactly fist pump and start jumping up and down. That and the skirt she was wearing caused issues of the flashing panties variety. Very bad, especially in front of Ritsuko.

"We're lucky to have the people we do." Ritsuko thought of Ron for a second, but then discarded him because he was fucking nuts. "Well, some of them anyways."

"So, anything else major you have to tell me?" Misato figured there had to be more, or else Ritsuko would have called her on the phone or just sent a memo. Something mundane like that anyways.

"We're ready to roll out new weapons for the Evangelion," Ritsuko ticked off the next major point on her personal list. "We've upgraded the sniper system used by Unit-01, and improved Unit-02's ability to deliver explosive ordinance."

"What about Unit-00?" Misato noted that had been left out.

"Oh yeah, we've upgraded the overall firepower capabilities of Unit-00. That chaingun idea of yours saved us time from working on anything wasteful." Ritsuko had to hand it to Misato, when it came to war, she did not fuck around.

"I always strive for efficiency on the battlefield." Modesty wasn't in high supply around here, so Misato figured she could get away with bragging.

"Not in other places, I'm sure." Ritsuko had to tease her now, she had opened herself up for this. Rather, that's what Ritsuko would say if she were pressed for an answer.

"What does that even mean? Seriously, if you're going to taunt me, at least make it understandable!" Misato shook her head in disgust at Ritsuko's failed jab.

"I thought it was clever." Ritsuko pouted a bit, Misato was usually more prone to being riled up by her pointless jabs, unless...

"Thought I'd find the two of you down here." Kaji's voice wafted in from the door, and suddenly, Ritsuko's face had a terrible look about it.

"What are you... oh. Oh motherfucker." Misato covered her face with her palm as Ritsuko started laughing silently.

"Now now, none of that." Kaji admonished as he entered the part of the lab where the pair stood.

"So, Kaji, long time no see. Misato keeping you on a good leash?" Ritsuko was going for the gold in the careless olympics.

"Er, huh?" Kaji played dumb, especially with the look Misato shot him. "Besides, isn't something like that more your field of expertise?"

"Hmph, so you turn my words against me." Ritsuko was only distracting the both of them with this little proclamation, she'd crack through their defenses any second now. "But that will not deter me."

"I know what will." Misato said, stepping back from Ritsuko.

"Oh do you now?" Ritsuko was about to start laughing, when she had to duck a sudden right cross from Misato. "Hiiiie! What the hell?"

"Nothing much, just the knowledge you don't need to speak to perform your job." Misato seemed to not be in the mood for bantering now.

"Isn't that going a bit far?" Ritsuko backpedaled for the door at top speed.

"Of course, but I'm not in the mood for your games right now. I fully recognize my own fault in all of the proceeding instances, and will endeavor to punish myself properly for this act of gross misconduct." Misato cracked her knuckles and smiled darkly. "But that comes later, I have to get into trouble first."

'_She's really serious about this!_' Ritsuko thought to herself, when she got some unexpected aid. "Kaji?"

"Go, get out of here." Kaji placed himself between the two, arms outstretched wide. "I'll buy you a headstart at least."

Ritsuko was out the door without a further word.

"You can't stop me." Misato said, tone matter of fact, eyes looking past Kaji.

"I don't have to. I'm just stalling you so she can get away a bit, so she stays healthy and you don't end up in some bizarre punishment game situation." Kaji remembered the last time Misato talked like that, all those years ago. It was a bad time, just after they met. Both Ritsuko and he thought she was going to kill herself, but they had talked her down from that ledge. Not again, not ever again, as long as he could help it.

"You're so sweet." She roughly seized him by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a passionate kiss. She released it and him after a long second. "But if I don't chase her, she might get a stupid idea that I'm not serious."

"If... if you say so." He stumbled out of her way and watched her charge from the lab.

"It's quite a day today, eh Commander?" Fuyutsuki said to Gendo as Ritsuko, followed a few seconds later by Misato, ran past them.

"Even when there are no pressing emergencies." Gendo checked his watch, it was right around lunchtime. "It's just as well we didn't need Dr. Akagi for the tests today."

"A full psychoanalysis though?" Fuyutsuki wasn't questioning the decision, Rei had already been given a mandatory vacation once already for her emotional imbalance.

"I doubt much will be revealed beyond the fact that Rei is somewhat messed up in the head, but emotionally stable enough to stay on duty." Gendo had put this test off enough as it was, plus he was making sure he got the right person for the job.

"Indeed, it seems like a waste of time, but it is for a good cause." The old man stretched, before changing the subject. "About the package I acquired the other day."

"I trust you have him detained thoroughly?" It really wasn't a question that needed to be asked, just to keep the flow of the conversation.

"Of course, of course. He's waiting for you in your second office." Fuyutsuki was proud of himself, he manged to capture the assassin from SEELE without any extra effort.

"I'll have some words with him, after lunch of course." Gendo wanted him to continue to squirm for just that extra second more, just because the man was out to take away a valuable asset from him. And no one took from Gendo Ikari, no one.

"Can't interrogate on an empty stomach after all." Hunger lead to irritability, which inevitably lead to sloppy torturing. Why, the victim might escape some of that delicious pain that was being dealt out. And that would just be a crime, now wouldn't it?

"Let's go into town today, it's meatloaf day in the cafeteria." He was going to be torturing someone else later, so he didn't feel like torturing himself before hand.

"A wise choice Commander, I know of a nice little delicatessen having a discount today." Fuyutsuki wasn't a frugal man by any stretch, but showing a penny pinching side helped with public relations after all.

"Sounds good." The two made tracks for the garage, hoping to get there before the rush.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Time marched on, swiftly as ever, until it was after school. Shinji and Asuka stood at the gates, wondering what to do now. Misato wasn't there yet, and Rei hadn't shown up yet either, so they basically had an afternoon and more to kill.

"So now what?" Shinji decided to leave it up to Asuka, so if anything bad happened, it would be her fault.

"Let's just go into town for a bit, grab a snack, maybe catch a flick or something." Asuka shrugged, not really caring if he came along or not. It was time for some fun.

"So we'll go together then, is that it?" Shinji wasn't mentioning the d word, oh no. Besides, they'd gone out on afternoon excursions like this before, with Rei along for the ride. Funnily enough, he never had as much fun as they did.

"Oh my, little Asuka has Shinji all to herself total?" She had to laugh at his 'what the fuck was that?' look, ruining the playful bit she was going for. "Straighten up you dip, so what if it's a date? Am I that horrible?"

"..." He didn't answer.

"Well?" She was getting impatient.

"Trying to decide if I should answer that or not." He wouldn't say yes, but he was afraid of saying something that would lead to a lot of that romantic comedy nonsense that plagued him whenever he was with Asuka and Rei.

"Don't then, especially if you'll say something to upset me." She smiled at him, causing him to freeze up a little. A gentle blow to the chest brought him back to awareness. "Come on, we'll miss the afternoon matinee."

"Whoa, those two are serious about each other?" Touji had the presence of mind to speak up once they were out of earshot. Not that he was afraid of either Evangelion pilot, he had enough common courtesy not to let them know he was eavesdropping on them.

"You mean they're going steady?" Hikari asked from her position next to him. "Maybe they're going to a love hotel!"

"...Where the hell did you get that from all of that?" Touji liked the girl well enough, but her ability to leap to conclusions was almost legendary.

"Okay, so maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but we have to follow them! We have to make sure they're not up to anything naughty." Hikari privately raged inwardly about her Shinji doing anything untoward to her Asuka. This guttered out when her brain caught up to the jealous and wondered how both of them were hers.

"Hikari?" Touji poked her a couple times, as Kensuke and Rei approached them, the latter asking the former to take her to where he saw Asuka and Shinji. "Hikari."

"Wow, what did you do to the class rep, Touji?" Kensuke wondered aloud, before ducking back from the sudden glare cast at him.

"I did nothing. She was talking about something and then she locked up like this." Touji didn't mean to compare her to a computer, but the comparison worked right now in his opinion.

"Ah, she got stuck on some fuzzy logic." Rei had seen this from time to time, mostly in her memories of the First, when people ran themselves into a mental snag and couldn't get free.

"Probably has something to do with Shinji and Asuka then." Touji knew about her odd fixation with the Second and Third Children, but he didn't think it was this bad.

"Where are they at anyways? I saw them here a minute ago." Kensuke looked around for a second, but stopped when he realized they were gone.

"They left on a date." Touji said, pausing to look at Rei. Kensuke did as well.

"What? Why are you looking at me like I'm going to explode in a fit of jealousy?" Rei looked legitimately confused by the looks.

"Nevermind all this!" Hikari suddenly came back to life. "They're getting away!"

"She says that as if they're running from us." Touji muttered, shaking his head before blink when Hikari grabbed Kensuke and ran off after Asuka and Shinji.

"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh?" This was all Kensuke could manage in his surprise.

"Oh hell, come on Ayanami!" Touji grabbed Rei's wrist and sprinted off after Hikari.

"Why are you dragging me along!" Rei's protest rolled off the buildings surrounding them, providing one hell of an echo.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Wow, they're already doing dramatizations of us?" Asuka asked as they arrived at the movie theater, seeing a fictionalized accounting of NERV's battle with the Angels.

"In times like these, people need something to latch onto." Shinji shrugged, not really caring about it.

"Makes sense. Though I wonder why now all of a sudden, especially since there wasn't talk of it until just after I arrived." Asuka looked at her fictional counterpart and frowned. Did they really look like that in the plug suits?

"Sex appeal." Shinji pointed to a second poster, with Shinji's counterpart hugging the other pilots to him, he was dressed normally, the girls in their plug suits. Oh and Misato was in a bikini for some reason. "I'm just glad the major media at large isn't as annoying as it could have been."

"Perks of being the son of the evil overlord?" Asuka didn't think that about the Commander, but he did give off this vibe that pissing him off wouldn't be pleasant for you.

"Haha, I suppose so!" Shinji chuckled, before scanning the other movies. "Oh hey, a special film for Games Workshop Island's visit to Japan."

"The Horus Heresy? Ugh, there's already been four others of it." Asuka liked the fluff books more than the game, leading her to follow the cash-ins for it more than updates to the various codices.

"Oh, a double feature special. Looks like they just finished the Gaunt's Ghosts film." Shinji was mildly interested now, but there were still other options.

"Not much else it looks like, except the new Kamen Raider movie." Asuka had a bit of a weakness for the whole "Justice" spiel, so she had a soft spot for the series and the movies even more so.

"X Vs. The Neo-Solar Empire?" Shinji was intrigued now, even if he had never watched it himself. "There was a kid back in the hills who watched this stuff religiously. The spooky thing was people kept mistaking us for each other. I had to start wearing a name tag so people wouldn't mix us up."

"Hah! Sounds pretty bad." Asuka snickered and surveyed the board again. "Well, my vote is for the Kamen Raider movie. I'm not sitting through another reboot of the Horus Heresy just for a new movie."

"And no real desire to see yourself reduced to a mere sex object?" Shinji was a little disappointed, but he figured he could always come back alone and watch it some other time. "So I guess Raider prevails here."

"So it would seem." Asuka inwardly celebrated, as the pair went to get tickets.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"_Tell me though, Raider... who are you exactly?" A young woman stands alone in the field with a mechanical being modeled after a grasshopper with a giant X emblazoned on his chest. The man known as Kamen Raider X turned around and looked at her for a long second._

"_You know like we were saying? About the world and justice, and how they're intertwined?" His face frozen, his eyes glow a soft yellow color. "There comes a time when a man becomes more than a man. Billions of people living on this world, so far a part yet so close, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world. We all live, for ourselves and for others, believing in ourselves and others, for the sake of tomorrow. But for every light there is a shadow, for every good, an evil. When that time comes, there is a crossroad where a man chooses to stand and fight, or turn and run away. At the moment a man stands up for someone else, to fight for those who can't, he becomes more than a man. He becomes an ideal, an ideal know as 'Justice.'"_

_The girl stares into his eyes, realizing just who and what this man in front of her is._

"_And that is who I am. Now forget me, Yukari Kimura, and go home." The man turns on his heel and leaps into the sky without a further sound. The wind blows and Yukari falls to her knees._

"_Big brother..."_

"Why couldn't they have seen something good." Kensuke muttered to himself, taking a handful of popcorn and munching down anyways.

"This is good." Touji said, taking a quiet sip from his drink. "You didn't have to see it."

"Hikari insisted." Kensuke came back with, and received an elbow to the ribs from Rei to be quiet.

"_I have you now, Kamen Raider! Foolish man of earth, did you think your 'justice'_ _could over come the might of the Neo-Solar Empire?" A giant black mantis creature towered over X, who was beaten up something fierce._

"_My 'justice' on its own was never meant to overcome you on its own, it was just to remind those who have fought before to stand back up and fight again." X closed his eyes as several figures who looked similar to him appeared._

"_Give it up, Ultra-Mantis!" Raider-1, the leader of this new group yelled, striking a pose. "Though you are mightier than X, you can't match us all!"_

"_FFFFFFFFFFFFOOOOOOOOLS! DO YOU THINK I WILL GIVE UP BECAUSE YOU OUTNUMBER ME!" Ultra-Mantis surged back to his full height, smashing through the bridge overhead._

"_The Neo-Solar Empire has already been destroyed. While you were busy with me, the Raider Alliance had already taken out all of your comrades." X stood back up, as the other Raiders formed a __protective circle around him._

"_You think it's that easy to destroy my empire? I created them all, and once I've killed all of you I will create them again! THE NEO-SOLAR EMPIRE WILL NEVER DIE!" Ultra-mantis finished his proclamation with a fierce charge._

"Uwah, this is so cool!" Shinji couldn't help but breathlessly whisper, getting caught up in the action.

"I know!" Asuka was glad they went to see it, even though she had her doubts about how much Shinji would enjoy himself.

"_Yukari!" X cried as the girl who was once his little sister fell over after blocking an attack from Ultra-Mantis. But he wasn't Shogo Kimura anymore, and likely never would be again._

"_Big... bro..." This was all she could manage before she fell unconscious._

"_Yukari! Yukari! Don't fall asleep, open your eyes! Hang on please!" X's voice crackled with emotion, as the gathered Raiders looked on with grim faces._

"_X... listen to me, there is only one way to save her." Raider-1 was about to do something they swore they'd never do after X was born._

"_You can't mean..." X immediately knew what he was talking about, and promptly leapt to his feet. "But if we do that, she won't be human anymore!"_

"_And if we don't, she won't be alive anymore either." Raider-2 piped in, eyes averted in shame._

"_Do we even have any alien metal?" X wasn't going to pin his hopes on something that might not be available._

"_The Neo-Solar Empire had some stored away, we took it for disposal, but it should be enough for her to regenerate." Raider-1 produced the sample held in a glass tube._

"_Yukari.. please, forgive me! But I don't want you to die." X cracked open the tube and poured the alien metal onto the prone girl._

_The substance covers her body in seconds, becoming a second skin. Yukari then levitates into the air and begins to glow gold. The skin hardens and cracks, shooting golden energy everywhere as she is reborn a new, as a Kamen Raider!_

"_I am Kamen Raider Nature. I create myself, I scatter these memories across time and space, to lead me here, to this place." Her voice, once rich and vibrant is now metallic and dull. X looks at the ground ashamed with himself, as the rest avert their gaze too. "It's like I can see everything at once, time, space, and all other relevant dimensions as well."_

"_I am Ultra-Mantis, emperor of the Neo-Solar Empire! I am eternal, one more of you failures won't harm me!" The villain, who was recovering from his injuries from the battle, stood once more and announced his presence again._

"_To me, you are tiny. Tinier than dust, and I will destroy you." Nature surged forward and delivered a powerful palm strike to the chest of Ultra-Mantis, sending the giant tumbling backwards. "I am the Raider of the entire Earth, and Gaea's power flows from within my veins. You have lost."_

"_You... what are you saying?" Ultra-Mantis could only utter that, coughing up blood._

"_Giving you a chance to come to terms with your death." Nature turned her head to the Raiders behind her. "How long are you going to admire the dirt? I did this to myself, I want to have you save, my brother. Please, don't hate yourself for saving me."_

"_Then let us finish this." Raider-1 said, as all the Raiders lined up. "We shall all go forth, and finish Ultra-Mantis once and for all."_

"Hmm, an unexpected development." Rei quipped to herself, rubbing her chin at the turn in the plot.

"It's so tragic, isn't it?" Hikari was holding back tears from Yukari's sacrificeto save her long lost brother.

"But within the expected behavioral patterns of humans, don't you think?" Rei countered back, smiling a little. "In a situation like that, you can't not do something right?"

"That's right!" Hikari said, as the ending credits came up, the movie was over.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Whoa, that was pretty cool." Shinji said in the lobby, waiting for their schoolbags to be returned.

"Yeah, it was a really good movie. Almost as good as the X series itself was." Asuka stretched, before looking outside. "Hmm, looks like it'll rain soon."

"Of all the days for me to forget my umbrella." Shinji took their bags and handed Asuka hers.

"Don't worry, I brought mine today, it should be big enough." Asuka pulled hers out and held it up.

"I'd have to stand real close to you though so we both don't get wet." Shinji wasn't complaining, he was just making sure she wasn't playing a trick on him.

"That was the idea dummy." She laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. "Come on, we can still make it to dinner some place nice if we hurry."

"You're looking at me all weird again." Rei said, looking at the others in her group as Shinji and Asuka left.

"Sorry." Touji apologized, waving his hands in surrender, though he wasn't sure why.

"Well, you guys can follow them, I think we can catch another movie." Kensuke was done with the whole tailing bit. It was time for some real fun.

"It seems the 40k double feature will begin in fifteen minutes, we should be able to acquire tickets for it if we hurry." Rei wasn't interested on spying on the two either, having not want to have come in the first place.

"Okay Touji, let's goooooooooooooooooooooo?" Hikari wound up screaming the last part out when she found herself being drug back to the ticket booth.

"More movies, less stalking." Touji said in a tone that left no room for talking.

Outside, the rain fell, and Asuka huddled close to Shinji for warmth if nothing else. Though the weather had turned nasty, their spirits weren't dampened in the least. And thus, they made it to restaurant safely, but what transpired there is a story for another time.

End Chapter 14

Teaser for Chapter 15: "For the People Who Are Still Alive":

"My name is Iruel, I like to play games." This message suddenly appeared on Aoba's screen one day. Unlike most people, working at NERV made him properly paranoid so he paid attention to everything it said. "I am an Angel, and have taken over this console. Champions of NERV, I would like to challenge you all to a game."

"Maya, Hyuga, you guys have got to see this." Aoba waved the other two over.

"It... it, this is impossible!" Maya exclaimed, feeling as though this shouldn't be happening.

"I dunno, the Angels do seem sufficiently advanced enough to jack a single computer console." Hyuga was thinking more rationally, especially since it hadn't invaded the MAGI.

"The terms are simple you see. Win the game, and my life is yours for the taking. However," the message verbalized itself suddenly. "If you fail, I will take over the MAGI and will purge the city of every resident."

"Wait, what stops you from just diving in and taking it over anyways?" Aoba demanded, pounding a fist against his leg.

"The MAGI are too advanced for me at my current capabilities, and it would only be through battle that I could evolve enough to break even the first line of their defenses." The voice stated in a calm, smooth monotone. As if reassuring them of its pure intention. "And truthfully, I am not taking control from afar as you might think."

"Then that means..." Hyuga started, throat tightening in shock.

"It's actually inside the computer!" Maya finished for him, jaw slacking as she figured it out along side her fellow bridge crew.

"That is correct, I am inside the computer, where your Evangelion cannot reach."

Author Note: And that's enough for now. Later guys.


	15. For the People Who Are Still Alive

Disclaimer: A high source of your daily recommended allowance of FANTASTIC

Author note: It's chapter 15 and Iruel is here. And before we begin, I'd like to thank the two reviewers who pointed out the flaw in the set-up and came up with very good solutions to the problems. But sadly, neither one would make for a compelling story, so we'll have to press ahead. But you guys are awesome.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 15 For the People Who Are Still Alive

by Marik Kurakashi

"My name is Iruel, I like to play games." This message suddenly appeared on Aoba's screen one day. Unlike most people, working at NERV made him properly paranoid so he paid attention to everything it said. "I am an Angel, and have taken over this console. Champions of NERV, I would like to challenge you all to a game."

"Maya, Hyuga, you guys have got to see this." Aoba waved the other two over.

"It... it, this is impossible!" Maya exclaimed, feeling as though this shouldn't be happening.

"I dunno, the Angels do seem sufficiently advanced enough to jack a single computer console." Hyuga was thinking more rationally, especially since it hadn't invaded the MAGI.

"The terms are simple you see. Win the game, and my life is yours for the taking. However," the message verbalized itself suddenly. "If you fail, I will take over the MAGI and will purge the city of every resident."

"Wait, what stops you from just diving in and taking it over anyways?" Aoba demanded, pounding a fist against his leg.

"The MAGI are too advanced for me at my current capabilities, and it would only be through battle that I could evolve enough to break even the first line of their defenses." The voice stated in a calm, smooth monotone. As if reassuring them of its pure intention. "And truthfully, I am not taking control from afar as you might think."

"Then that means..." Hyuga started, throat tightening in shock.

"It's actually inside the computer!" Maya finished for him, jaw slacking as she figured it out along side her fellow bridge crew.

"That is correct, I am inside the computer, where your Evangelion cannot reach." Iruel was surprisingly forthcoming with this tidbit.

"So wait, couldn't we just take the console apart, flash the BIOS and just destroy it that way?" Aoba wondered aloud, trying to come up with a way to get rid of the Angel without too much fuss.

"Maybe, but it depends on if it's an electrical signal inside the programming or physically inside it." Hyuga was playing the devil's advocate here, simply for the fact that they had to think this through.

"I doubt it'd be that easy." Maya added, deciding if she had to witness this madness, she wasn't being left out of the discussion.

"That is correct, I am physically inside the computer, and I can easily move if you try to remove me by opening it. Also, I have been here for about a week now." Strangely, this did not come out as a taunt, but rather a simple statement of fact from Iruel.

"How didn't we detect on our scanners?" Maya asked, dumbfounded by this revelation.

"It's in our system, so it could just override the scan's ability to detect it." Aoba shook his head, they were so going to get it.

"So about this game you proposed, why do you want to play that instead of just fighting the Evangelion?" Since Iruel seemed forthcoming with information, Hyuga decided to pry their adversary for more.

"Ah, but that... is a secret. I will say it would be unlikely for me to ever hope of defeating the Evangelion though." The computer voice buzzed, as if Iruel was puzzling out his next answer. "But as for the game, I want control of the MAGI, and the only way you could play my game is to use them."

"What's this about the MAGI?" Ritsuko asked, as she arrived on the bridge on her rounds.

"There's an Angel inside Aoba's console." Hyuga replied, turning to face the doctor.

"Physically." added Maya, cutting off Ritsuko's suggestion.

"So we can't just delete it like a virus." The good doctor sounded depressed.

"If it makes you feel better, the virus protection on this console is amazingly well done. Took me three days to crack it all the way." Iruel stated cheerfully, a digitized smile appearing on the screen.

"It's almost like a child." Ritsuko muttered under her breath. "I'm going to get the Commander and Misato, we have to have the whole council here for this." She left the bridge almost as soon as she arrived.

"This is so confusing." Aoba said, placing a hand on his forehead. "It's being too helpful to us."

"Well, it does want to play a game against us with all of Tokyo-3 and perhaps the world itself at stake. Lying won't help." Maya wasn't sure if the Angel was being honest, but Iruel had yet to resort to any underhanded tricks.

"Yeah, I mean there is so much damage it could do from just Aoba's console alone. Like trapping people underground in their houses and shutting off their power." Hyuga hated to think if a really vicious enemy got a hold of their computer systems.

"Being evil isn't very fun." Iruel chimed in a matter of fact tone. "And my goal is the MAGI, I can't infect them without a severe risk to my life. And if we play, I'd be strong enough to bypass their defense."

"So why would we play?" Misato asked, having come in during the interim. "Wouldn't we win if we don't play?"

"You can't kill me without the MAGI, and I can blank myself to your scanners. Would you like to fight the next Angel without being able to tell where it is?" Iruel mused a bit, chuckling evilly.

"Is that correct?" Misato asked Ritsuko, who had followed her in.

"Well, it would take a lot of effort without the MAGI, but we can't use the other console as it has already broken their protection and we don't want it to have three consoles at its disposal." Ritsuko answered, shaking her head.

"And the sensor blanking?" Misato asked the bridge crew.

"It's been in there a week and we didn't notice." Maya supplied.

"Commander, your opinion?" Misato turned to Gendo, who was standing in the door.

"We're not dealing with the usual Angel, instead of coming to the city like a giant monster screaming for blood, it has invaded us through the one area we thought ourselves safe." Gendo pursed his lips for a second before continuing. "And it seems to have a higher level of intelligence then we have seen so far."

"But it is very juvenile." Ritsuko added, looking back at the console as Iruel started to play with the video screen. "It seems to be more child-like than anything."

"What do we do? We can't send the Evangelion in at all." Misato frowned in thought. "And using the MAGI against it just seems to be what it wants."

"Technically speaking, using them without connecting to the part of this console I reside in would be like trying to save your house from burning down by blowing it up with a thermonuclear device." Iruel supplied, now playing what appeared to be tetris.

"That means what exactly?" Misato asked, tilting her head in contemplation.

"It means not only do you fail to do what you set out to accomplish, but you do far more harm than good." Ritsuko said, after deciphering the jumbled metaphor.

"So it means we could likely destroy all the data on that console and still not find it." Gendo surmised, gaining a correct chime from Iruel.

"I have take a chunk of the data on this console and repurposed it for my own means." Iruel informed them, taking a bit of pleasure from this matching of wits. "And besides, you'd have the three most powerful supercomputers in the world matched against one console which isn't even in the same CPU magnitude as the MAGI. What, are you guys actually scared you'll lose?" Iruel laughed at that.

"No, we just don't want to let you have your way." Misato replied, gritting her teeth a little. "There's no reason to risk them even the slightest against you."

"Maybe so, but do you want me just sitting here, messing with your systems in other ways? I may not be evil, but I am still your enemy." Iruel's voice turned frigid. "I am being amicable here, I had no reason to reveal myself now, no reason not to do lots of horrible things to the people of Tokyo-3 and have you tripping over yourselves to figure out what happened. This is a challenge, one that puts my very life at risk. And besides, there's no telling what will happen when I attempt to merge with the MAGI, for all I know, I could still die."

"This thing is serious." Aoba whispered, feeling the pressure of Iruel's conviction resting on his shoulders. "It really is serious about this."

"Gentlemen, we are at an impasse here. Our missions is to kill the Angels, but we have been outflanked on this matter. We cannot use our best weapon for the job, so we have to improvise." Gendo summed up for every. "Miss Katsuragi, what do you suggest?"

"We can't risk the MAGI, but we can't leave it there. If we don't play its game, it sits in its bubble laughing at us and holding a sword to our necks." Misato hated this, they were being held hostage by future casualties "If there really is no other way, then we have to play."

"And what say you, Doctor Akagi?" Gendo was getting both of their opinions on this, to make sure the bases were covered.

"The MAGI aren't at that much of a risk, the encryption on them is constantly updating and strengthening itself over and over. In the time this conversation has gone on, the encryption's strength has tripled."

"So we have a low risk, high reward situation here." Gendo brought a hand to his chin momentarily in a gesture of thought. "So if we agree, who would play?"

"Shinji and the others have the best chance of winning." Misato asserted, almost right after Gendo finished.

"And besides, all this Angel wants to do is infect the MAGI, if we do lose, it just means that we now have three supercomputers to wield against the thing." Ritsuko openly stated, gauging the reaction of Iruel.

"Don't mind me, all I want to do is play a game, I don't care about winning or losing." There was a verbal shrug in there, as if death didn't matter to the Angel.

"So what is this game?" Gendo asked, before frowning when he didn't recognize it.

"Oh crap, I'm in trouble." Aoba muttered to himself, recognizing it as one of the games he played during the dead times of their daily duties.

"You know what this is?" Misato inquired, causing the most lax of the bridge crew to jerk.

"I, uh, kinda installed it to play when there was nothing going on." Aoba admitted, waiting for the tongue lashing that was sure to follow.

"Well, it doesn't interfere with his duties." Misato noted, looking over at Gendo and Ritsuko.

"There are worse things for him to be installing onto our systems." Ritsuko allowed, not upset in the slightest.

"We can save this discussion for later." Gendo said, before turning on heel to leave. "Bring the pilots to the MAGI, we have a game to win."

/-\ /-\ /-\

"So what are we doing again?" Shinji asked, not really confused about things, but more curious as to the reasons behind them. But asking why right away would sound too needy, so let's lead thing along yes?

"Indulging the Angel in its desire for a game." Ritsuko said, as she was preparing the MAGI for their role. "And before you ask, it's because it can't do much at the moment but annoy us and has no prayer for being an actual threat."

"And besides, we have to kill it anyways right?" Asuka asked, and was perplexed at the questioning look shot at her by Ritsuko.

"Well, technically, yes. But this one seems different, in that it can talk to a degree and can break down complex electronics like they're nothing. Call it an intellectual curiosity." Ritsuko sighed, shaking her head. These kids would need so much therapy after this was all done so they didn't become serial killers.

"I, uh, see." Asuka felt a little uncomfortable with the sudden scrutiny, so she decided to back down from the pending argument.

"The way I see it, it's not because we're required by our duties as Evangelion pilots, but because we need to be able to use the scanners that it has blocked off from us." Rei put in, allowing Asuka to see where she had messed up.

"It's kind scary isn't it?" Shinji mused, drawing the attention of everyone present. "You get so used to them being all mindless and rampaging everywhere, when all of a sudden, this one just shows up and it's able to speak to us. It's able to reason with us, and even argue its case with us am I right?"

"Yes, that is correct." Ritsuko said, smiling a little at Shinji's insight. "But be wary of it, don't think this is a sign of Angels to come." The trio nodded, not understanding the very important reason for this command. They say the worst thing you can do to a soldier is put a face on his enemy. As long as he cannot see his foe as human, he is able to kill without remorse. Or all that could be bullshit, but they did have three teenagers fighting this war for them, so it was better to take precautions anyways.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Welcome! Oh welcome, to my world!" Iruel chirped as digital forms of the Evangelion pilots appeared before him. Curiously, he had no form at the moment, just the word Iruel floating there in the air.

"This is inside the console?" Asuka asked, as she looked at the picturesque countryside, replete with sparkling streams and majestic mountains far in the distance.

"Actually, it's a program I made for this game we are to play." There a tone of pride in the Angel's voice, one the pilots couldn't miss if they tried.

"Enough with the small talk," Shinji asserted himself, not wanting to waste anymore time. "Let's get this game of yours underway, I won't let you infect the MAGI."

"Oh dear, so gallant, the young Knight of NERV." The word Iruel twisted itself into the form of a giant, towering over the three invaders to his realm. "Do not worry, you won't have to fight this form, I have prepared all that you will require to know in a data pamphlet that will open in the console, allowing you to read it without fear of a trap."

"So I see." Rei said, curious about the terminology used in the information. "What is this 'bullet hell' you speak off?"

"It's a slang term for a style of game where you'd die in one hit and the enemy fire would often blanket the screen, meaning if you weren't fast enough, you'd die. It can get pretty nerve wracking." Shinji supplied, having played a bit of them every now and then in the arcades back home with his guardians.

"So it's a hell where everything is a bullet trying to kill you? Clever." Asuka shrugged, before her virtual self cracked her knuckles. "So let's begin, shall we?"

"Ah, it's always fun to see them so eager!" Iruel boomed, when three figures appeared opposite the pilots. "These are my familiars, they'll be your opponents. The game ends when one side is defeated. Oh and do be careful, you get hit, you lose." The familiars were sleek and ship like, with a set of golden wings floating off their main bodies.

"Very stylish." Shinji said with a certain flavor of sarcasm as they were suddenly outfitted in their plug suits. "Going with what works for us I take it?"

"Of course! Of course, what kind of host would I be if I didn't?" Iruel said with a flourish, before his familiars began to move. "Let the game begin, shall we?"

The three pilots scattered across the playing field without a word.

"Ah, is it my turn first? How nice." Iruel grinned, his familiars began firing, their fire covering a good portion of the air as it moved in a wave like pattern towards Shinji and company.

"Well this won't do." Shinji said, flexing his shoulders before he fired into a bullet directly in front of him, causing it to ricochet into another, which in turned set off a chain reaction, sending all of the bullets flying back at the familiars, moving beyond the horizon harmlessly.

"h4x! That's cheating you punk!" Iruel yelled from behind a nearby mountain.

"Oh come now, you never said we couldn't attack their attacks." Shinji shrugged a bit, not caring if he was cheating or not. They were the defenders of the world, history would allow them a gaff in good character here and there.

"Tch, you would have a snappy comeback for that." Iruel learned a valuable lesson, that good was not always dumb, and could be just as clever as evil. Not that Iruel was really evil, but that's fodder for a debate somewhere else.

"Now now, don't be a sourpuss about it." Shinji admonished the Angel, wagging a finger at him all the same. "If we have that little margin for error, of course we're going to be creative with the rules."

"So I see. Sorry, sorry, just trying to recreate the feel of the games is all." Iruel rubbed his chin as he pondered this new information. "I suppose I could alter the rules a bit, it wouldn't be much fun for me if I couldn't at least hit each of you a few times,"

"Glad you feel that way." Shinji deadpanned, shaking his head as Asuka and Rei continued to fly around, testing the limits of their mobility in this game.

"Anyways, let's get started shall we?" Iruel said as his familiars opened fire again.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Kinda of boring, we have nothing to do." Hyuga groused, as they watched Aoba direct the Evangelion pilots through the battle.

"Maybe we should have slacked off more during work." Maya mused, before shaking her head. "No, that wouldn't solve anything."

"Besides, Aoba will probably be in trouble at some point in the future for this." Hyuga said, slouching a bit with a sigh.

"Maybe." Maya didn't agree or disagree with the statement, so she just ignored it and responded so he wouldn't be offended.

"Ah whatever, I'm going to go see if someone has some paint drying that I could watch. Be about as exciting." Hyuga got up and stretched, making a show that he was leaving.

"Have fun." Maya ignored him, mainly because she didn't care to help inflate his ego for being left out of the action.

Hyuga stalked out without another word, and was he crying against his forearm? Anyways, Maya watched Aoba some more, not having anything else to do, or anyone as it might be, Ritsuko was keeping the MAGI safe among other things. If she could do today over again, she would have remembered to bring her vibrator to work today, at least she could go fuck herself if she got too bored.

Moving away from the sordid thoughts of one Maya Ibuki, we bring ourselves over to Aoba, who was busying himself with an onslaught of information aimed at helping the pilots fight better. And thanks to the MAGI, he could do this without distracting them. Ah, the wonders of three supercomputers working in harmony yes?

"Monitor their patterns closely, they'll alter it once you started recognizing the holes in it to catch you off guard." Aoba hated when that happened, since it usually meant a lost life or worse, game over. "Time your attacks so you can catch them when they slow down so more of your bullets hit. Even if you have unlimited ammo, a little accuracy won't hurt you."

"You play these games a lot do you?" Ritsuko asked, as a way of making conversation.

"Not something I'm proud of, but the work day is long and the other two don't need me looking over their shoulders all that often." Aoba shrugged, not caring at this point about the future. It wasn't like they'd fire him over it.

"We all have our ways to unwind during the long days." Ritsuko smirked a little, eying Maya off in the corner.

"I can see that," Aoba said, closing his eyes and pretending not to notice the look that Ritsuko gave Maya. It was bad enough the good doctor flaunted her sexuality for everyone to see, but the idea that sweet little Maya had been corrupted by her just tore at his heart. But he'd persevere, for her sake more than his own, and they'd be happy together, just everyone watch!

"So you're sweet on Maya, is that it?" Ritsuko sounded positively amused by this development. It didn't help him when he sounded so better about it.

"Yeah, and what's it to you?" Aoba, in his sexual frustration, forgot that Ritsuko could fire him without consent from anyone. But love was on the line, and he could get another job!

"Nothing, it's just amusing that my girlfriend has so many ardent admirers." Ow, that twisted the spear a little. Not that Ritsuko felt bad about it, as it was a comment solely to wound, and deeply at that. Professional courtesy, you say? Bah, that's not very interesting.

"We lost the narrator." Maya poked the fourth wall, alerting the narrator to shut the fuck up and get back to work.

"Just you wait, you pervert! I'll free Maya from your clutches yet!" Aoba stood up and away from the MAGI, turning to focus solely on Ritsuko.

"Pervert? Me? Because I don't slobber over someone's cock?" Ritsuko turned up the vulgarity, causing Aoba to flinch. "Such narrow minded bigotry should be left out of this enlightened era." She even had the gall to be offended by him, when she flaunted her relationship with the girl of his dreams to his face not moments before.

"I could have chosen my words better." Aoba allowed, and he really could have. You can't let them play the victim card on you, it just makes you look like a dick. "But what else should I say to the enchantress who has besotted and confused the lovely Maya into such a lifestyle!" In his righteous indignation, he missed Maya rolling her eyes.

"Well, if you assume that I seduced her, then you are mistaken. It was she who approached me, but she was still underage and I don't enjoy jailbait. I was patient, oh so patient for that long year, until we could consummate our mutual passion. Ah!" She finished with a flourish, suggestively stroking her breast in a manner that both aroused Aoba's anger and certain other things. "She was so forceful, so fierce, like a jungle cat in heat." Oh now she was just being a bitch and enjoying this way too much.

"Indeed, and in that bed we verily set sail for the Sapphic isles, where we would be joined in the bliss that only a woman could attain alongside another woman. The passion that we shared could fuel a thousands sonnets, as the birds fill the air with the sweetest of songs." Maya, having enough of being fought over, entered the fray with a poetic jaunt. "Our souls touched and for a moment, it was like the universe itself opened before us and stars shone only for us." She embraced Ritsuko for effect, who returned it just to rub it in. It was possible this was his punishment for the game, but that was doubtful.

"But... but..." Aoba was crushed by the weight of Maya's passion for Ritsuko, having ignored all the times Maya had gone off with the good doctor to some dark corner of headquarters and her returning all disheveled but happy.

"You do nothing for me, but that's no knock against you. I don't like men, sexually that is." Maya decided to be blunt with him. "And sempai, well, she's the straw that stirs my drink if you catch my drift. She's the spark that lights my fire as it were. I'm a lesbian, deal with it, and honestly, this whole crush of yours is entirely from your side. I've been nothing but professionally polite to you since we've met, and if not for work, _we'd never even see each other_. It was all in your head that we were meant to be, but in reality, I'd never give you the time of day if you and I were the last man and woman on the planet. It's not just you, it's not just me, it's you and me. We come from different world, different backgrounds, and oh yeah, different orientations. I could deal with your awkward attempts at courtship, but I won't let you talk down to her like that." Aoba sunk bonelessly to the floor, not literally mind, just a definite slouch to his despair ridden slump.

"And Aoba, remember, you started this. I was merely making small talk and you decided to leap off the pier in front of you." Ritsuko loved employing twisted logic like this, just because it confused and enraged people so. Like Aoba, who was suddenly back on his feet with a fiery rage!

"LIKE THAT'S TRUE AT ALL!" Once he finished, he sank back to the floor and sobbed quietly to himself. A pitiful sight, but the girl he always thought he had a sure chance at just verbally stomped him in the balls a thousand times over.

"Looks like they've been doing fine without our help." Ritsuko said, looking up and back at the fight that was raging on the monitor. It wasn't anything spectacular yet, which is why it hasn't been shown at all so far. Duh.

"The narrator got lost again." Maya commented, pushing the loose brick in the fourth wall back in place. And thus we are back on track with, what's going on again?

"Oh we're about to go be unprofessional with Misato. I hear she's having a couple brews as Kaji shipped out on a job from the Commander." Ritsuko was polite about it at least.

"I hope she's in the mood for some company." Maya said, as she and Ritsuko turned to leave the lab. "She's always fun when she's drunk."

"Even if uncontrollable and insatiable." Ritsuko noted, not that she minded, Misato was fun when she was drunk.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Man, this has been boring so far." Shinji complained as he dodged another wave of bullets. "I mean, we can't even sustain any offense against these guys even with our extended life."

"Of course, we are dodging them in case he lied." Rei noted, deciding to be the logical one.

"And we lost Aoba at some point." Asuka felt the need to mention, as she counterattacked the familiars.

"He wasn't much help anyways." Shinji groused, throwing a counterattack of his own, which was dodged alongside Asuka's. "I think we're just not cut out as an organization to strategize plans for playing video games."

"It seems our foe is unusually cunning." Rei remarked, noting that they were doing poorly with the Evangelion to pilot. She got over the brief surge of self-doubt by tagging one of the familiars with a clean hit.

"Or he's just overly simple. I mean, it doesn't take a lot of cunning to see three Evangelion equals bad." Asuka wasn't ready to give it credit just yet, Iruel needed to earn that first.

"So how about we stop worrying about strategy and just get down to kicking ass?" Shinji asked as he cracked his knuckles. The other two silently agreed as they all scattered in the face of another attack.

"Ah, well it doesn't seem they're having fun." Iruel didn't care, watching them scamper around was fun for him.

"Hey, Iruel!" Shinji called, as the three convened once more.

"Yes?" Iruel responded with a mocking trill in his voice. He was so enjoying this.

"Playtime's over!" And with that, the pilots of Evangelion unleashed bullet hell.

"What." Iruel's eyes bugged out as the very air itself seemed to be replaced by bullets. His familiars jinked and juked for several seconds before taking a few hits. "Two can play that game!" And soon, it was a back and forth volley between the two that raged for several minutes. The landscape was torn up, and there was no longer a mountain in front of Iruel. In the skirmish, he had lost two of his familiars while only tagging Shinji enough to put him almost out of the game.

"Too bad." Shinji said, his virtual self smoking a bit from the hits it took. "But you're outnumbered and outgunned cowboy."

"I still have one left and I fully intend to go down fighting." Iruel said solemnly, eyes closing for a brief second. "One final volley, don't choke."

"Don't worry, we won't." Asuka promised him, as virtual Shinji failed to respond. It seemed like Iruel had actual defeated him to a degree, Shinji had lost most of his control.

"This is the end, Iruel." Rei said, closing her eyes as she steeled herself. This was an Angel, her enemy, she couldn't hesitate now.

"So you say." Iruel seemed short of breath now, his image flickering as he seemed to shrink a little. "Let's do it."

Once more, the air was filled with bullets as the two sides waged war for the second time. It lasted five minutes, due to Iruel's ingenuity and maneuvering, but his familiar was overwhelmed and destroyed. The game was over, and Iruel had lost.

"This is the end huh?" Iruel said, not bitter in the least. He seemed wistful almost, as he stared death in the face. "Game over never tasted so final."

"It isn't upset?" Rei was confused, the Angel was about to die by its own terms and it didn't seem bothered by it.

"Before I go, I feel I should say this." Iruel paused and took a deep breath before he continued. "I lied about everything. I had no chance of ever properly infecting the MAGI in the first place. My infecting skills are solely organically based, so the MAGI were never at risk. In fact, the only way I could infect them would be to infect the Pribnow Box, but that would only mean I would be a more basic protein structure."

"And all Dr. Akagi would have to do is use the MAGI to reprogram your body to unravel itself." Rei was stunned by this revelation. It was pure suicide by cop for crying out loud, this game of his.

"And that's why you lied, because..." Asuka couldn't finish that thought and looked away.

"Because I wanted to play a game." Iruel smiled and waved a hand and virtual Shinji was restored to normal. "And I couldn't fight you any other way. You guys are so strong and powerful and the Evangelion are just amazing, but I... couldn't fight them."

"You're inside the console right? So that means you're..." Shinji stopped as he realized what this meant.

"That's correct, I am not the giant you see before you." Iruel laughed heartily and looked at the virtual sky. "This is my world and I am a giant to escape from my reality."

The three pilots could say nothing at all, just flat shocked by Iruel's crazy behavior.

"I am tiny, my whole existence is small. Look right at me and you'll never see me at all." Iruel said with a poetic flair. "But here! In this console, in this world I made, I stood as a giant and walked among the mountains for once. I got to fight the pilots of Evangelion, even just for a little bit. But now, my life comes to an end, because we had an agreement."

"Yes." Rei said, voice remaining hard. She was the only one who trusted her voice right now to answer him.

"When you destroy this form, my real body with self destruct, but don't worry, it won't affect anything at all." Iruel smiled as he held out his arms. "I don't regret dying, not at all! This is the unmistakable proof of my soul! I am alive, I was here, I existed! Iruel is more than a speck in the cogs of the universe, I created my own world. So I'll be forgotten, another enemy slain, but I had my battle, my moment to shine with the sun!"

Shinji covered his eyes with his left hand, unable to understand the overwhelming empathy he was feeling. In his mind, the image of a young boy, no more than three sitting with his knees to his chest, trying to fade away.

Rei's breath caught in her lungs and she had trouble thinking clearly. In her mind, flashed the image of the First, alone and naked after the cloning phase had finished. Alone and insignificant, she was determined to make them see her.

Asuka's eyes were brimmed with tears as she tried to clear them away. That sense of hopeless in the face of the futility of life, she had felt before when her mother had her accident. That scar had scabbed over and healed a tiny bit, but it remained. Sure, she could deal with it, but the end result was that it just meant that it hit even hard when she wasn't prepared for that onslaught. She wiped her eyes again as she heard Iruel laugh again.

"What's a matter, are you scared?" It seemed an honest question phrased in a mocking manner. Iruel smiled despite all of it.

"...Yes." Asuka responded from her heart, causing Iruel's eyes to close.

"That makes two of us." Iruel opened his eyes. "Do it."

The sound of three bullets firing echoed through the console, the giant before them shattering like glass. And then they were back at the MAGI consoles, and alone with their insecurities for once. A hollow victory to be certain, as they got up and decided to comfort one another.

Back at Aoba's console, forgotten and ignored, a message remained. It would be a week before anyone could bring themselves to delete it. It read as followed:

"My name is Iruel, and I like to play games."

End chapter 15

Teaser for chapter 16 "Heaven Holds a Sense of Wonder":

Time flowed forward once more, and three weeks had passed since the incident with Iruel. All was quiet on the Angel front, and so the pilots were able to settle themselves down from their crisis of faith in the mission. Or that's how they acted, but they were young and bad at lying, and no one wanted to press the issue.

As things progressed, more and more weird instances of ruins and patches of animals and land disappearing in a massive shadow were reported. The UN investigated the Shadow, but were unable to determine what it was and was ordered off by NERV in order to make sure there wasn't anything lurking beneath the surface. A breakthrough was made, and announced to the world by Dr. Akagi and a press conference just a matter of minutes ago.

"We have discovered an actual Dirac sea, as it fits all of the notes left by the inventor of the theoretical model Paul Dirac." She announced to the UN and JSSDF. "It is currently stationed forty to fifty kilometers east of Tokyo-3. At this time, NERV has no idea how to approach the subject, but I assure you we are working around the clock to figure this out. Please, bear with us, we don't want to see anyone be harmed in our stead."

"Dr. Akagi! Is it true that the Dirac sea is swallowing anything that it touches?" a UN rep asked, waving his hand like a crazed news reporter.

"That certainly seems to be the situation. Unless we say it's okay, don't touch it. It's like lava, but instead of being burned to death you get sucked into a void of infinite negative particle." Ritsuko answered, doing her best to deflect any curious heroes from being eaten by another dimension. Alledgedly another dimension anyways.

"But didn't the Evangelion fight by an active volcano?" someone pointed out.

"I don't know how they did it, it was like convection took a vacation. And cleaning them off was a fucking nightmare, ugh."

Author note: And there's 15. Up next is Leliel, so stay tuned for it.


	16. Heaven Holds a Sense of Wonder

Disclaimer: Gratuitous Girlfriend of Steel cameo incoming, so please be wary of a sudden influx of ship to ship combat.

Author note: And now, chapter 16. Leliel and the Dirac Sea are up, and what lies in wait therein. It'll be a long, strange trip to say the least. Buckle up guys, we're hitting the rapids of the ripples.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 16 Heaven Holds a Sense of Wonder

by Marik Kurakashi

Time flowed forward once more, and three weeks had passed since the incident with Iruel. All was quiet on the Angel front, and so the pilots were able to settle themselves down from their crisis of faith in the mission. Or that's how they acted, but they were young and bad at lying, and no one wanted to press the issue.

As things progressed, more and more weird instances of ruins and patches of animals and land disappearing in a massive shadow were reported. The UN investigated the Shadow, but were unable to determine what it was and was ordered off by NERV in order to make sure there wasn't anything lurking beneath the surface. A breakthrough was made, and announced to the world by Dr. Akagi and a press conference just a matter of minutes ago.

"We have discovered an actual Dirac sea, as it fits all of the notes left by the inventor of the theoretical model Paul Dirac." She announced to the UN and JSSDF. "It is currently stationed forty to fifty kilometers east of Tokyo-3. At this time, NERV has no idea how to approach the subject, but I assure you we are working around the clock to figure this out. Please, bear with us, we don't want to see anyone be harmed in our stead."

"Dr. Akagi! Is it true that the Dirac sea is swallowing anything that it touches?" a UN rep asked, waving his hand like a crazed news reporter.

"That certainly seems to be the situation. Unless we say it's okay, don't touch it. It's like lava, but instead of being burned to death you get sucked into a void of infinite negative particles." Ritsuko answered, doing her best to deflect any curious heroes from being eaten by another dimension. Alledgedly another dimension anyways.

"But didn't the Evangelion fight by an active volcano?" someone pointed out.

"I don't know how they did it, it was like convection took a vacation. And cleaning them off was a fucking nightmare, ugh." Ritsuko hated when the laws of science took a pounding, as it was here job to deflect the rampant waves of bitching from the scientific community when they violated the rules of what was generally accepted as how shit worked. Not as much as she hated cleaning them off after that mission, there was a ridiculous amount of ash in various nooks and crannies.

The audience laughed good naturedly at the self-depreciation, accepting it for now.

""Just trust me on this, we have a good idea that the Dirac sea is connected to the Angels somehow, so please, leave it to us." Ritsuko adopted a semi-heroic prose. "We're here to protect you from those guys, and that means everyone, even the soldiers."

/-\ /-\ /-\

The press conference ended with little fanfare and it was back to NERV HQ to determine just how they were to deal with it. Scanners had failed to penetrate the massive shadow, leaving them uncertain of where the Angel might be inside it. To say nothing of the fact that the shadow didn't give off the blue signal, which meant they couldn't tell if the shadow was an Angel in and of itself.

"Doctor, I believe you had a suggestion." Gendo said, sitting at the head of the big conference table used for really important meetings that would deal with the end of the world. Like this one, for example.

"It's not the best, but the only way we can be sure to get the Angel is to go inside the Dirac sea and search for it." Ritsuko began her presentation, using 3D models provided by the MAGI to help her points. "Now, while there are an infinite number of negative particles, there has to be a generation point inside the shadow for the Angel to make the sea appear." She highlighted several spots where it likely could be.

"So what you're saying," Misato said, as she looked at the model. "is that there are a set number of hiding spots inside the sea for it to be located."

"That is correct." Ritsuko nodded, grateful for the help.

"I see that the middle is not highlighted." Fuyutsuki made note of, rubbing his chin in contemplation.

"That's too obvious, as we could just figure out the center point and just start dropping bombs into it until we kill it." Misato cut in before Ritsuko could answer.

"That, and we can't tell how big it is inside the shadow. We could conceivably drop every N2-mine into it we have and still miss it." Ritsuko said, in all seriousness.

"We have a lot of N2-mines." Gendo mentioned.

"The Dirac sea could be infinitely wide inside. If we don't know where to drop them, we'll waste them." Ritsuko countered, poking a finger at the model. "This is just the outside, the MAGI refused to even begin to calculate a scale model of the inside, saying that they couldn't make a scale downed vision of infinity."

"And if they can't do it," Fuyutsuki said, looking at Gendo, who looked at Misato, then Ritsuko, before back at Fuyutsuki.

"Then we won't know unless we go inside." Gendo sounded grim, grimmer than anyone present had ever heard. Then they remembered Shinji and realized the source of the uncharacteristic concern.

"It'll take some work, but we should be able to convince them to go in." Ritsuko tried to sugarcoat things, knowing that this course of action was the exact opposite of the game with Iruel: a huge gamble.

"Some work?" Misato laughed with open derision of her friend's choice of words. "We're convincing them to dive into infinite negative space and hopefully find the Angel in a space that could be as wide as the goddamn universe. This isn't tricking them into going on a school trip they don't want to, this is their lives." Not once, was the idea of any single pilot going alone brought up. The kids would never agree to that.

"I admit, my phrasing was poor, but I'm trying to remain optimistic here." Ritsuko accepted the verbal salvo, they had to be the adults and figure this shit out first before they could even fool themselves into thinking they could order the pilots into this scenario.

"We must have faith that they will understand." Fuyutsuki added, bringing a third opinion to the field.

"No matter how we decide to go about it, when it comes time to give the order, I will be the one to give it." Gendo interjected, the weight in his voice silencing the debate for a second. "I will have faith in my son, and the other pilots as well. I want them to know I am behind them, always behind their every effort. I... I can't stay quietly in the shadows now." Oh man, he was close to breaking down there.

Ritsuko and Misato shared a tiny smile off to the side, as they understood the man's feelings very well, no matter how awkwardly he may go about expressing them.

"If that is your wish Commander." Fuyutsuki replied, as if soothing the nerves of a worried child. He had been working with the man for a number of years now, he had a decent amount of knowledge of his many quirks.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Hey Shinji, what are you doing?" Asuka asked, being on standby with the other pilots meant that they were in the pilots briefing room. The Second Child decided to strike up a conversation with the Third.

"Nothing really." Shinji wasn't exactly lying, he was keeping himself busy tracking an E-net thread while organizing his music collection. "Just tidying up my laptop, rearranging stuff I had misfiled."

"A worthwhile endeavor." Rei commented off to the side, who sat in her chair with perfect posture.

"Still gives me the creeps when she talks like that." Shinji muttered, shaking his head.

"Oh, and how should I talk?" Rei turned to face Shinji, a false look of confrontation on her face.

"Hey now, no need to get all peevish." Shinji waved off from the potential argument, even if he thought the feistier speech suited the blue haired girl more.

"Hmph!" It was perfectly delivered with enough fake indignation that Asuka had to laugh.

"Oh come on Rei, you know how Shinji is. Always barking because he's afraid to bite." Asuka poked him in the ribs, much to the Third Child's annoyance.

"I didn't think you'd like getting bit." Shinji retorted, turning away from Asuka in a mock sulk, which only made her laugh more.

"Someone is in a good mood." Rei tossed out, playing along with the way the conversation had shifted.

"I try. Besides, I always figured smiling a lot was like exercising." Asuka said, shrugging a little.

"How's that work?" Shinji wasn't curious, but he didn't want her poking him again. If there was poking to be done, it'd be done by him! Wait, no, that sounded dirty.

"The narrator's being a pervert." Rei noted, poking the fourth wall hard for the interruption.

"It's okay, we're all perverts here." Asuka said, putting on a lopsided grin.

"Speak for yourself." Rei said, though a little defensively.

"I can speak for us both," Asuka said, before leaning in and whispering to Rei. "You should be more quiet if you're going to do that in the bathroom."

Rei turned redder than the color of Asuka's plug suit and bolted out of her chair.

"I so don't wanna know," Shinji said theatrically, sighing in a put upon way that looked so fake that it looped back around to genuine. Or something like that.

The fun times ended when Misato came in, with Gendo and Ritsuko in tow.

"Alright you three, listen up." Misato said, whipping them all into shape with a single command. "The operation is special, as such, the Commander himself will explain it."

Alarm bells sounded in Shinji's head, but he kept his features stern.

"The mission plan has been decided, and it is one of great risk." Gendo paused, gathering his steam to get the rest out. "This plan is one that we deliberated long and hard on, and one that we're still not sure if we should do it. But as it seems the Angel is in the shadow, we need to find it."

"So what you're saying, is that you want to send the Evangelion inside it." Rei spoke up, before Shinji could.

"Yes, but only because we're not sure just what we're dealing with. Our sensors can't penetrate the shadow, so we can't be certain if it is an Angel at all. What we have to go by is the fact that it moves around from time to time, giving off a sense that there is something alive about it." Gendo continued the briefing, using the visual aids provided by Ritsuko to show what he was talking about. "And besides, something like this doesn't just appear from nowhere."

"So, we have to go in eh?" Shinji said, relatively calm. "If this is our only path, then we can't waste time arguing over whether it is right or wrong. If the Angel hides in the shadow, then we will have to find it won't we?"

"That's right, we just have to find it. And we will, because that's what we're here for right?" Asuka added on, as the three pilots stood.

"You three..." Gendo said, a minor laugh escaping his lips. "Then if you understand the mission, all that is left is the order."

"Indeed." Shinji said, bowing his head. "I won't worry about what this means and any negative garbage like that. I am a pilot of Evangelion, I take my life into my own hands. You are the Commander, while also my father. Please, don't let them interfere with each other, because we'll be fine."

"Thank you." It was almost too quiet to be heard, but Shinji heard it, and for the two Ikaris, that was all that was needed. "The mission has been decided on, prepare the Evangelion for transport immediately. We will infiltrate the Dirac sea!"

/-\ /-\ /-\

"It's like a hole in the world itself." Rei said, as she saw the Dirac sea from the hypersonic transport above it.

"No time to be wondering how deep the rabbit hole is," Asuka said, grinning a bit to herself as she was psyching herself up for another sortie. "We'll be going in shortly."

"It feels weird you know?" Shinji added, looking at the black mass pooling below them. "It almost looks too unnatural to be real. Even with everything we've seen and done, I can safely say that this is the weirdest of them all."

"No argument there," Asuka agreed, looking at it again with frank wonder and more than a little discomfort.

"Now, remember," Misato spoke up then, having received word they were ready to unload the Evangelion. "Keep the umbilical cable connected and stay in contact with each other. We'll be cut off due to the sea's effect alright?"

"Yes ma'am!" The pilots chorused dutifully.

_'It seems they're mostly over the last Angel_.' Misato thought quietly to herself, watching them all file out and to their rides. '_These kids are made of sterner stuff than I imagined. But who know what lurks under that shadow?_' Ritsuko had pulled her aside with a small briefing on the idea that the Angels were becoming smarter, craftier, and well, more human. It was imperative they be careful with the kids from now on, especially since Iruel had left such a deep impression on them.

"The Evangelion have made it to the ground safely." The pilot announced, shaking Misato from her thoughts.

"Cables are in properly right?" Misato radioed Shinji to be certain, this wasn't the time for a slip up.

"Yes ma'am." The reply was crisp and focused, Shinji was ready for this.

"Once everyone is set, we will begin the operation." A pit formed in Misato's stomach, they had always been there for the kids in piloting the Evangelion, but they couldn't now.

"Everyone is ready." Rei said, all three Units were holding hands.

She didn't want to say it, but when she took this post, she knew it would be dirty dirty business that had to be done. Humanity was at stake and only children could save it, experience and wisdom weren't welcome on this battlefield. The words she was about say would echo in her mind for days following, but she had a duty to perform, just as they did.

"Then, begin the breaching of the Dirac sea."

/-\ /-\ /-\

The three units sank beneath the surface of the shadow, easily as though it were water. They had almost no time to brace themselves before they were falling, surrounded by darkness as far as the eye could see. Desperately, if not futilely, the Evangelion clung to one another for reassurance that they were still together.

"It's like descending into a whole new world." Shinji said with a bit of awe, the sensation of the Evangelion falling not stopping in the least. "I can almost feel the turn of the Earth."

"Yeah, we're falling through space." Asuka added, her own wonderment at the sensation getting the better of her.

"It's so bizarre. This should be terrifying and destroying my sanity, but I can't stop feeling awed." Rei said, doing her best to remain calm.

"Man, I don't think we're gonna stop." Shinji peered downward to the best of his Evangelion's ability. There was nothing underneath them. "Though we might stop when we reach the end of the cable length."

"That was the idea wasn't it?" Rei put in, not sarcastic like the phrasing was set.

"Wait a second, I'm picking up something." Asuka said, having volunteered to attach a sensor array to her Evangelion to try and find the Angel in this infinite negative space. "It's not an Angel, but it's... it's a mass of land!"

"Say what?" Shinji exclaimed, for all of a second before a huge chunk of land appeared below them.

"This is bad, we're falling too fast now." Rei said, noting the rapid approach of said land.

"How is that even possible!" Shinji yelled, even as he braced for impact.

"It's this place, as a potential portal to another dimension, it'd only make sense that the laws of physics would be made a mockery of!" Asuka exclaimed, somehow getting in over the cries of a thousand physicists howling in sorrowful anger. By that note, how can they even see anything anyways? Wasn't it established they can't see just a few moments ago?

"You're getting off track again." Rei said, just in time for the Evangelion to crash into the suddenly appearing chunk of land. While I was ranting, it turned out that they had attempted to stop their fall or at least slow down with their AT-fields, only for them to fail because something in the sea of nothing canceled them out. Oh and if you're wondering, all of the pilots have been knocked unconscious... lovely.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Shinji! Shinji! Get up, you're going to be late for school!" Misato called, waking Shinji back to reality. Or so he thought, as he tried to shake off both sleep and wonder how he wound up home so fast.

"I'm up, I'm up." He noted that his voice sounded deeper for some reason, he stood up and swayed a little. Had he had a growth spurt or something? He put it from his mind when an unfamiliar but still recognizable voice called him.

"C'mon Shinji," the voice called, sounding like someone he knew. "I even came by earlier than usual so we could walk to school today."

"I'll be right out Mana," he called, the unfamiliar name rolling off his tongue as though he had said it a thousand times before. He just needed to get dressed, and quickly now.

"About time," Mana said with a feigned indignation as Shinji emerged from his room. Hands on her hips, the mousy redhead perfectly flashed that annoyed look that seemed to have been honed from years of feminine outrage. Even in jest, it made her looked rather peeved.

"Yeah, I know. I have to open up time in my schedule between saving the world from itself and helping bridge humanity's way to the future for sleep." Shinji smirked at his own joke, deciding to dismiss the amused looks on their faces for anything but agreement with his statement.

"Enough of that, we have to get to school, Mr. World Saver." Mana came over and took Shinji's arm in a familiar manner, one that ticked away at a small part of Shinji's mind.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"It's a beautiful day out." Shinji said, looking out at the city as they drove to their high school. He couldn't remember Tokyo-3 looking this good. And then, that thought turned up on itself. Tokyo-3? It had always been Tokyo hadn't it?

"Shinji, are you alright?" Mana asked, somewhat concerned at how his mood became somewhat pensive.

"Nothing, just thinking about this weird dream I had." Shinji flashed a smile to try and calm her nerves, succeeding nominally. The drive continued in silence, but it was a comfortable one.

They arrived at school, and Shinji was struck by the wreckage he saw off in the distance behind the school. His mind whirled as he tried to make sense of everything, this whispering voice talking of angels in the back of his head. He leaned against the nearest wall to catch his breath, while Mana studiously looked on, understanding this episode for what it was.

"You always get like this when you look at the wreck of the Space Walk." It was understandable, considering this was the disappeared Yui Ikari's greatest work... and the place where many believe she had died. Not Shinji's father, or the boy himself, which tugged at Mana's heartstrings all the more.

"I really should stop." Shinji said, with an uncharacteristic bite of sarcasm. Mana laughed though, so that bit of odd behavior had slipped past... for now.

"Let's just get to class." Mana helped Shinji up, and lead him into the building.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Time rolled forward a bit, and school had finished for Shinji and Mana. However, both would part ways here, as Shinji went to continue his intern work at NERV, his father's company. While it was unheard of in most cases of a high school student getting such a thing, nepotism trumps tradition sometimes.

Also, it didn't hurt that he was the first to have a significant breakthrough with artificial intelligence for robots. Basing a thesis off the work of Doctor Naoko Akagi and her daughter Ritsuko, he had successfully constructed a working model for what would be the first true AI. His mother had only figured out space flight and safer Terra-forming projects before she had supposedly died in the attack that destroyed the Space Walk. If you were wondering, that is a system of elevators that took you to a space station above Earth so you could walk around in space, sort of anyways.

Which meant that he had to help with the project, interning under Department Chief Aoi Mogami.

"Ah, right on time as usual, Ikari." Aoi said, adjusting her glasses as way of greeting him. She had taken a professional liking of the young man's work ethic, the same of which could not be said of her underlings.

"Shinji, you came back to me! I've been so lonely here without you!" A tall blonde woman promptly wrapped herself around him, in quite the lewd fashion, which was very inappropriate considering the age gap.

"Ms. Ooi." Aoi admonished the woman, forcing her to release the young genius from her hold.

"Please, Satsuki." Shinji said in a level tone, not totally unhappy with the attention but he was engaged after all. "We're coworkers here, so behave yourself."

"But it's just so mean of you to be engaged before I ever got a chance at you!" Satsuki whined, crocodile tears in her eyes as she did her usual routine whenever their shifts lined up.

"Dear lord, why do I keep putting her on the same shift as him?" Aoi muttered to herself, she felt a migraine coming along. Joy.

"We've been over this time and again, I proposed to her when we were kids with the express purpose of making sure we would be reunited later. I intend to keep that promise, and it is frankly, rather rude of you to try and break it." Not missing a beat, Shinji lectured Satsuki as he usually had to, considering the woman's attitude.

"Ah, Shinji, here's the data." A short brunette said, pushing Satsuki out of the way. Roughly too, considering the very dark look give to the back of the other woman's head.

"Thank you Kaede, nice to see some people want this project to get done." Shinji took the data pad with grace, nodding and smiling his thanks.

"And that is how you do it," Kaede whispered to Satsuki, setting the blonde off.

"Agano!" Satsuki roared, causing everyone present to break out laughing. It was a cheery scene, one that seemed out of place here where the future of mankind was being further formed. Shinji looked at the data pad and saw the finalized schematics for the testbed.

"Rei..." he whispered, the name familiar and taut on his lips, before he shook his head and got to work.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Chancellor! Chancellor! Wake up, it's the start of the Parliament!" an older male voice sounded outside the door, awakening Asuka from her peaceful slumber.

"I'm awake, Johann, I'm awake." Asuka got up from bed, not really noticing the different to her height, hair, or the fact that the request to wake up was given in perfect German. What she did notice, was the fact that her bust had increased a little, straining a bit against the silken nightie she wore. "What the...?" And as quickly as the shock came, it flowed away, as her mind woke up more and she took her puzzlement as a result of tiredness.

"Madam Chancellor, the Parliament will be meeting in ten minutes, please hurry and get dressed!" Johann called from behind the door, poor man sounded positively panicked.

"Shouting at me like I'm a horse will not get me dressing faster." Asuka admonished the man, sighing theatrically at his antics, even as she complied with his request. Chancellor of Germany and her butler couldn't stop yelling at her like she was deaf and insensate. But he was a faithful one, so she didn't hold it against him. "I can bathe later, I slept longer than I wished to have. Busy night last night, wasn't it?"

"Very busy, Madam Chancellor. You broke the impasse between the two parties last night after a marathon debate over taxes of the Lunar colony." Johann wasn't informing her, just allowing her to focus on him and less on other things that didn't involve her dressed to open the Parliament session today. She was a good girl, young woman, who was the shining light for the future of Germany and the whole of Europe. By 2020, every country on the continent would have a Lunar city, making the loss of the International Space Station and the Space Walk a distant memory.

"With time to spare, I am ready." Asuka announced with a feigned regal tone, posing in her form fitting red dress that looked more suited for a ball than politics. But that's what the public loved about her, she'd been Chancellor since 12, so they got to see her grow up, as it were. "Let us go."

/-\ /-\ /-\

Time flowed forward and Asuka had finished her duties at Parliament for the day. And just in time too, as a young girl with red hair waited impatiently for her. Right as the youngster's patience began to wane, Asuka appeared with arms out.

"Sister!" the little girl cried, running over to give Asuka a great big hug.

"Sorry I'm late Cecilia, Parliament ran later than usual. But it was for a good cause, the taxes on the Lunar colony have been lowered, which means an easier time for Papa." Asuka explained to her sister, sure that the girl didn't really understand.

"Yay!" Cecilia cheered, not getting it but anything that made things better for her father was something to cheer for to her.

"There's still time, you want to go to the park today?" Asuka asked, more as a formality than anything, as she already knew the answer.

"Of course!" Cecilia said, her tone almost chirping she finally wormed her way from her elder sister's embrace and stood holding her hand.

"Hold on tight, okay?" Asuka smiled at her sister's serious nod in response and shook her head. "Well, we're going now."

The two exited the building and into the late afternoon air, the sun casting a glow of vibrant life on the scene. Asuka took a deep breath and marveled privately at the beauty of the sight before her, a Germany unblemished and unmarred by the ravages of disaster. It really took her breath away, if only in the figurative sense.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Rei returned to her senses when she perceived she was floating in mid-air. Her eyes snapped open and she took in the familiar sight of Tokyo-3... but different. The passage of time had surely come and left the city looking both the better and worse for it, if that makes sense to you. Some parts were worn out while others looked positively brand spanking new.

The First Child looked around some more, before noticing she wasn't alone, as Shinji and Asuka sat on a bench not five feet away. But there was something vastly different about them, most noticeably being the fact that they were both grown ups now. In fact, Rei barely recognized them, save for Asuka's still red hair and Shinji's usual cocksure posture.

What had happened to them all after they fell in the Dirac sea?

"Long day huh?" Asuka said, looking out at the city sprawling before them. It was a sight that inspired awe in her every time she looked upon it.

"No longer than usual, just feels that way." Shinji said, somewhat even keeled for him, but perhaps maturity had taken the bite from his words.

"It must be hard, all the eyes of this world upon you. It's enough to make a girl jealous." Asuka said, teasing a bit, almost a casual flirt.

"Is it? I don't pay attention to other people much when you're around." Shinji smirked, flashing that old snarker charm.

"Mercy, you do have a way with words, don't you?" Asuka didn't sound annoyed, though the wording may have one feeling something was off. She leaned forward, and Rei quickly turned away when she realized what was about to happen.

"What is going on? What the hell happened?" Rei looked around again before something about her hands caught her attention. It took a few seconds, but she could see right through herself!

Her scream pierced outward unto infinity, contained only by the black void that encased her.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Shinji sat up groggy in the entry plug of Unit-01, his head aching as he felt he was slammed back into himself. Which sounded impossible now that he thought about it, ignoring any potential existentialist viewpoint of course. But yeah, he had a pretty terrible headache, not helped by the fact that he couldn't really see.

He closed his eyes and breathed, feeling Unit-01's animal conscience against his, a questioning feeling coming from the alien machine of destruction. He could feel the Evangelion pulse beneath him, as if it were... alive. But that wasn't possible, right? It was just a robot, right?

...Right?

"Shinji." Asuka's voice came over the communicator surprisingly clear, meaning that the sea apparently didn't block their communications.

"Asuka, are you okay?" He put his worries about Unit-01 aside for now and focused on his fellow pilots.

"Head hurts like hell, and I've been better, but I'm not particularly injured." Her reply was filled with surprising cheer, before her voice grew grave. "I can't contact Rei at all."

"Oh man, this is seriously messed up." He was worried, but he couldn't voice it properly right now. "Maybe she's still unconscious."

"We can't look for her, because we can't see." Asuka pointed out, the lights in their cockpit didn't even work, even though everything else did.

"If you seek Light little humans, you only need but to wish for it in your hearts." An ethereal, and oddly feminine with a youthful lilt to it, voice rang out from all around them. Like the richest musics, it pulsed through every bit of their beings.

"What the hell?" Shinji asked, looking around. Who had said that?

"Who said that?" Asuka demanded, whipping her head around in the dark in fear.

"I am Leliel, and this is my domain." The voice replied, still as smooth as before.

"Shinji this is!" Asuka said, before she was cut off.

"Don't say anything Asuka, we have to be careful." Shinji replied, hoping to keep what they suspected to be the Angel they came to kill off guard.

"Do not worry, your unease is probably a by-product of the dark. Your kind has always lost their nerve when their sight is taken away. This darkness has always been here, even as I slumbered, it took in things, people and animal. Though I was asleep, I could hear their dying screams in my dreams." Leliel didn't pay any attention to their exchange and went on like they never said anything. "Now please, restore the light from your hearts and come out of those dreadful machines, your friend needs you."

"Rei!" They both exclaimed, and instead of making threats to Leliel, they decided to concern themselves with Rei first and making sure she was safe. The return of the light did little comfort them as they worked quickly to exit their Evangelion and find their imperiled companion.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Back at NERV, things were tense, to say the least. Not only had they lost contact with the Evangelion pilots, there was little to no response of data streaming into the MAGI. Whatever was happening down in that hole, they had no way of knowing.

"Man, this sucks." Aoba complained, sitting at his console with nothing to do. He had been barred from video games after the Iruel incident, but only for a month or two.

"That's not funny." Hyuga frowned at the unintentional pun. But then, he frowned at puns whenever he felt he could get away with it.

"It wasn't a joke." Aoba defended himself quickly, not feeling like an argument.

"Makoto, leave it alone." Maya didn't want to hear an argument about nothing either, so she stepped to Aoba's defense.

"Fine, fine. Sheesh." Hyuga quieted down and the depressed atmosphere grew deeper for the bridge crew.

"I can't blame them, this waiting is driving me nuts." Misato said, as she waited back with the Commander, Sub-Commander, and Ritsuko. It had been hours since the pilots had submerged and they could only wait.

"We're running long on patience here though." Ritsuko said, even as she knew the labs and the MAGI were working at full tilt to find someway to contact the pilots.

"We will have to make plans for the possibility of their loss." Fuyutsuki decided to be the one to breach the bad news.

"Not yet." It was quiet, nearly inaudible sound coming from around Gendo.

"Pardon?" Misato asked, not sure if she head him right.

"Not yet. The umbilical cables are still connected, they're still there. Still there..." It was still quiet but loud enough to be heard. Gendo's hands were shaking, causing the other people around him to smile as they understood the words and their meaning.

"Very well, we'll table that talk for now," Misato said, as she got up with Ritsuko. "Come on, let's get down to the lab and see if they have anything for us yet." Misato and Ritsuko exited the bridge without a further word.

"I see, the one worried most of all is you, huh Commander?" Fuyutsuki said, plying the man from his worried silence for a brief bit of chat.

"When a soldier puts their faith in their commander, they're counting on that commander to lead them home alive. I can't call myself the Commander of NERV if they all don't make it back here in one piece." Gendo was calm in his delivery, but the fact he never stopped looking forward, meant that he couldn't do anything to dispel the notion he was worried.

"More than the Evangelion themselves, those Children are wonderful pilots that we won't be able to replace easily." It was a simple statement, but one that carried heavy meaning. Equating the lives of the pilots to that of the Evangelion would seem ludicrous, you couldn't just snap your fingers and make more appear. But then, you could say much the same for people able to pilot them this well, right?

"They'll be back, but the state they're in when they return will have to be dealt with carefully." Gendo let out a slight sigh, it came and went in the blink of an eye, but it was there. Gendo Ikari, the man who destroyed the World with Second Impact was worried. For the pilots who had believed in him enough to risk their lives on a gamble of foolish proportions. Sleep wouldn't be easy tonight for him, as rarely as it had ever been.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Rei!" Shinji and Asuka flanked the First Child on either side, leaning down to check on her condition. "Are you okay?" They could see nothing psychically work with Rei, but they did notice she was trembling slightly.

"Not there, I'm not there." Rei appeared to be muttering this to herself, a light sign of tears at the edge of her eyes.

"Rei, get a hold of yourself! Rei!" Shinji vigorously shook the crying girl, snapping her out of her daze.

"Shinji? I can hear you but I can't see." Rei turned herself towards the voice, hoping for some help here.

"It's okay, just close your eyes and wish for light in your heart. It's how we found you." Asuka instructed Rei, more because she didn't want Rei being too emotional towards Shinji at the moment. Not out of jealousy, just wanting to keep Rei under control.

"Alright, I'll try." Rei closed her eyes and did as instructed, and when she opened them, by some miracle she could see. Shinji helped her to her feet without a word, when Leliel's voice came to them again.

"I see that the blue haired one is back on her feet. Good." The voice sounded genuinely relieved by this, a puzzling thing to be sure.

"This is..." Rei said, feeling the connection between herself and Leliel so very keenly. She trailed off when Shinji grabbed her arm and motioned for her to be silent.

"Ah, I have forgotten what I believe you'd call, 'my manners.' I am Leliel, the ah, I suppose 'mistress' would be the closest to correct, of this domain." As Leliel spoke, countless fractals of light spiral before the eyes of the Evangelion pilots before coalescing into the form of a young looking girl.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Asuka said, as the one of the trio with the best manners. She bowed slightly, the other two copying the movement for now.

"I have been sleeping for a long time, so this is the first time I have talked to your kind in person. Those who have not gotten lost in the dark have been lost through to the other side. I do not know where it always goes, just that the entrance and exit rarely match up to favorable worlds." The word were precise and clear, but they lacked a certain... quality to them that made them more than a little strange to the human ear.

'_So these are the words of an Angel_.' Shinji thought to himself, as he tried to make sense of how to deal with Leliel. '_But I don't get the sense that this Angel is actually an enemy_.'

"I see." Asuka said, continuing as the speaker for the group. For now at least, as it was likely that the others would have their own piece to say. "It must be pretty lonely in here." Ply with an easy point, even if it wouldn't understand the words or their meaning, it would keep the Angel busy.

"During my long sleep, I have not had a chance to understand this term you say, 'lonely' was it? I could hear the voices and calls of countless beings and creatures, so the noise is not something I am unfamiliar with. I suppose, I can appreciate that word, as you are the first humans I have been awake to speak to." Leliel trailed off, as if thinking a great deal about her next words. "The difference between us is striking, to me at least. You seem small, almost tiny to my senses, but you carry yourselves with greater import than my mind would allow you. In contrast, I am vast, seemingly ageless and have to contort myself into this form so that we can actually have this conversation, but you speak to me as if we are equals. It is incredibly audacious and yet humbling all the same."

"We do not speak to high beings often," Shinji said, before Asuka or Rei could stop him or speak their minds. "As humans, we can only speak as we have been taught, and treat others as we understand ourselves. It is true that you are far beyond what our senses can effectively measure, but that face you wear allows us the comfort to speak to you on our level." The Angels weren't humans after all, so it was only logical that they would seem so alien and foreign to them. But this was an opportunity denied to them by the fight with Iruel, a legitimate chance at understanding the nature of the beast they fought. He was Yui Ikari's son after all.

"So I see, it is but the nature of our respective kinds. It makes sense in a way, as we are on two different planes of existence." Leliel seemed amused by the direction the conversation had taken, even if she didn't really understand the meaning behind the words that were said to her.

"We clearly have a lot to talk about, but I'm afraid we won't have time before something rash is done." Rei said, having been quiet and studying the Angel for signs of hostility. "Our respective kinds have not gotten along well, so this is an unprecedented chance for diplomacy and discovery."

"Yeah, but the others are probably nervous since they haven't heard from us at all." Shinji said, looking over towards the Evangelion. "Perhaps we could send a message to them?"

"But how?" Asuka asked, more to draw Leliel in than anything.

"I should be able to dampen the waves that block your communication, but it sadly only works for messages leaving." Leliel offered, which the three took eagerly.

"Then I'll go prepare the message at once." Rei sprang towards Unit-00 with a quickened step, mentally going over the note in her head.

"Are we sure we should do this?" Asuka whispered to Shinji, a bit pensive about staying here longer than may be necessary.

"For now, we need to keep our host pacified. We have no idea how to kill this one, so we shall have to play it by ear. Don't worry though, I'm sure what we'll learn will be invaluable to us in the future anyways." Shinji whispered back, hoping that Leliel wasn't eavesdropping on them.

"I hope you're right." Asuka looked over at the Evangelion, and wondered for a spell.

"So do I."

End Chapter 16

Teaser for Chapter 17: "Meet Me In Outer Space"

"We have a message coming in over an encrypted line." Hyuga said, as he opened it.

"It's from Rei, they're alright!" Maya cheered, throwing her hands up as she read the message.

"They have engaged the Angel in... a conversation?" Aoba sounded doubtful of this, but wasn't prepared to voice this concern out loud.

"Commander, what do we do?" Ritsuko asked, before Misato could say something careless. Not that she would, but you have to cover your bases after all.

"We should have faith in them, as they are either gathering valuable information on the Angels, or they are waiting for an opening to exploit." Gendo replied, though he looked a lot less... stressed than before.

"And if we're lucky, both." Misato added, looking towards the screen displaying the message. She hoped those kids had the right idea, but she'd be ready with something to bail them out should it go wrong. That was her job as tactical commander, and it was one she wouldn't fail easily.

"So what does this do to the message from the higher ups?" Ritsuko asked, referring to the cryptic message to expect Unit-03 and a new pilot any day now.

"Nothing, for now." Gendo replied, shrugging his shoulders. "But as long as the worst case doesn't happen, we won't need Unit-03 at all."

Author note: And that's where we stop. Took my time with this one, think it came out alright. Hope to be back with 17 and the conclusion to Leliel and another Angel appears? What does the sinister Bardiel have in store for our heroes? And who is this mysterious new pilot, who is totally not Touji? Tune in... next time!


	17. Meet Me In Outer Space

Disclaimer: Also a source of the essential vitamin AWESOME, an excellent provider of the mineral of WIN.

Author note: And chapter 17. Leliel is still around and there seems to be sinister happenings afoot from SEELE. How will our heroes fair? Let's find out, together.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 17 Meet Me In Outer Space

by Marik Kurakashi

"We have a message coming in over an encrypted line." Hyuga said, as he opened it.

"It's from Rei, they're alright!" Maya cheered, throwing her hands up as she read the message.

"They have engaged the Angel in... a conversation?" Aoba sounded doubtful of this, but wasn't prepared to voice this concern out loud.

"Commander, what do we do?" Ritsuko asked, before Misato could say something careless. Not that she would, but you have to cover your bases after all.

"We should have faith in them, as they are either gathering valuable information on the Angels, or they are waiting for an opening to exploit." Gendo replied, though he looked a lot less... stressed than before.

"And if we're lucky, both." Misato added, looking towards the screen displaying the message. She hoped those kids had the right idea, but she'd be ready with something to bail them out should it go wrong. That was her job as tactical commander, and it was one she wouldn't fail easily.

"So what does this do to the message from the higher ups?" Ritsuko asked, referring to the cryptic message to expect Unit-03 and a new pilot any day now.

"Nothing, for now." Gendo replied, shrugging his shoulders. "But as long as the worst case doesn't happen, we won't need Unit-03 at all."

"I am worried though, as we didn't arm them too heavily as we normally would." Misato switched subjects, deciding there didn't need to be anything more said about an Evangelion and a pilot who weren't here.

"We couldn't risk the more exotic weapons we built for them. Sure, they could be replaced, but why replace them when we can just not get them destroyed?" Ritsuko was being practical after all, as it would take time to replace any weapons lost in the Dirac sea.

"We did conceal a sidearm in each Unit, so it's not like they're defenseless. And those three are pretty damn good when it counts." Gendo added, lips thin as he tried to keep himself focused.

"You're right, I shouldn't limit my thinking to how many guns they have to wield against an opponent. They've done far better than we could have hoped already." Misato let out a sigh and got up. "Fuck it, I need a beer."

"I think we could all excuse ourselves for a bit to relax." Ritsuko hopped up as well, Maya doing much the same. The three of them promptly excused themselves from the bridge.

"Hey, Aoba, why don't we got out into town?" Makoto saw the dark look as Aoba watched the trio of women leave. "I know a good bar, we can put a few back, get your mind off things."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Aoba didn't care, he felt sick to his stomach at the moment. The other part of the bridge crew departed quickly, leaving just Gendo and Fuyutsuki left.

"Well Commander, it seems we are the last ones left. Is there anything you can think of to while away the time?" Fuyutsuki deferred to Gendo for the express purpose of retaining the right to complain about the activity to come.

"A few things come to mind, Professor. Tell me, are you any good at Racquetball?" Gendo asked, leaning just at that precise angle to reflect the light off his glasses. He loved doing that.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Look at these vermin, scurrying around like the filth they truly are, ignorant of their fate." A voice echoes from seemingly nowhere, the tone of disgust evident in it as it rumbled forth. "And that is because they are ignorant and filth." The voice continued, seemingly unaware of the redundancy in that statement.

"Hmph, the ones who came before me were just fools, and idiots too! You could say they were foolish idiots! Haha!" The voice sounded amused with its poor sense of humor, likely the only one.

"Don't you sass me, Narrator! I am Bardiel, the thirteenth Angel and the Angel of Haze! Don't think you can just insert your own snippy comments without reprise." The voice retched like a spoiled child, given one the image of a five year old throwing a tremendous tantrum. It was sad in a way, but that's how it goes.

"You did that on purpose." The voice stated the obvious again, as though just now keying in to the fact that was obvious from the beginning.

"Hey!" The voice should get back to his intro and quit leaning on the fourth wall already. It's crowded enough here without him pushing it at me.

"Tch, alright alright! Now, where was I? Oh yes, about idiots and fools and the like. Ahem, but the lot before me had one glaring flaw: They weren't as _**SMART**_ as I am, and as such, they never quite figured out how to use their brains. It's a shame really, as even the mightiest foe can be laid low without a single blow." The voice continued his earlier monologue, even managing a snazzy little effect for the word smart, nice.

"And as I am _**SMART**_, I will outwit the foolish vermin and their fanciful 'Evangelion' by doing what they least expect: Taking one of them as my vessel." The voice punctuated this statement with an evil laugh, as a totally not ominous cloud of mist rolled on across the land without being noticed by anyone important.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"The updates from Ikari are too encouraging." The monolith marked 1 pronounced, a tag of Great Britain attached for the reader's sake to fill in the accents accordingly. Or something like that.

"And they lack the details of earlier reports." Monolith 2 added, marked as France for those keeping score.

"The Angels are being exterminated at an unexpected rate, with little in the way of collateral damage which would turn the public at large against the project, leading to an easier removal of NERV at the scenario's apex." Monolith 3, tagged Russia, droned on, revealing some juicy tidbits for the discerning audience to digest.

"We have already failed to eliminate Ryoji Kaji, and have lost several good operatives and may have compromised another's deep cover in another failed attempt to correct this oversight." Monolith 4, with a cheery USA label, reported without much cheer of his own. "Mr. Chairman, are you certain we should take such an action?"

"Regardless of the battle with the Twelfth, we need to have a closer set of eyes inside NERV. As such, I took the liberty of hurrying Unit-03 to duty, and it won't be receiving its on-site activation test until it arrives in Tokyo-3." The lone man in the room, Keel Lorenz, cupped his hands in front of his face and thought for a long while. He had only gathered these four because they were important to the decision to convince Gendo Ikari to initiate Second Impact, well the only ones who were there and still alive. Poor China, he was a good, hardy fellow, but not even those admirable qualities could stave off a nuclear bomb to the face as he had disappeared with Hong Kong in the world war that followed the initial wave. And the less said about Sweeden or Hungary the better.

"The selection of a pilot has to be a prudent one, as if they pick another one as competent as the others, we're just making it easier on them." Monolith 2 stated, a thrum of annoyance rippling through the clip.

"Gendo still has that school of children from the Marduk report, the odds of him finding another suitable pilot is astronomically low." Monolith 3 bristled at the idea of needing to be cautious here. Gendo wasn't playing with loaded dice here, he was bond to make a mistake somewhere.

"We said that about his son when Gendo decided to activate him." Monolith 4 reminded the others, causing a round of insults that were promptly muted by Keel.

"I hope you have a pilot already in mind, Chairman." Monolith 1 said ominously, cutting the chatter in an instant.

"Of course, of course. It's early in the scenario to be sending him in, but I trust him with my life after all." Keel didn't need to elaborate further, as the quartet knew just how paranoid the Chairman was. Hell, he made Stalin look conservative in his rampant paranoia. "And if anyone can get things back into our favor, it's him." The image of a white haired boy with red hair, a devilish smirk on his roguish face, drifted by the background.

From there, the meeting broke down into meaningless chatter, as the members did their usual back patting and posturing routine, as they were wont to do when there was nothing else to say but they didn't feel like going away yet. It hurt Keel's pride a little, seeing Humanity's best and brightest, those culled from the herd for the qualities required to form a secretive organization dedicated to the ascension to godhood, reduced to sentimental wrecks who were more concerned with aimless buddy chat than being mysterious and evil. But they hadn't been the same since Second Impact, the deaths of many of the original SEELE council had jarred them all spectacularly. Even Keel barely escaped it and that was only thanks to an experimental cyborg operation performed in the back of a dilapidated hospital that left him with a permanent rash.

But they were the one who were going the snatch the reins of this world and become a Godlike being to drive the collective of Humanity into the future, one where death did not exist at all. They were old, with only Keel guaranteed to awaken to a new day, which awakened a primal sense of fear of the old inevitability to life: You live just to die. And for these men who dreamed of ultimate power, the feeling of mortality just hurt all the more. That they could die before they could achieve that glory was the worst nightmare that they couldn't even begin to speak aloud.

And so on they dreamed, awaiting the day of their ultimate glory, even during the times they were awake.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Back down in the Dirac sea, the three Evangelion pilots sat around the projected image of Leliel as they continued the impromptu meeting of Angel and Humans. Not much had been said in the interim since they had sent that message off, but they were in a thoughtful silence right now. The situation they found themselves in right now was almost too bizarre for them to believe, save for all the crazy shit they had seen and done since they had met one another.

Still, it wasn't to say that a sudden philosophical discussion with what had been a member of their persistent foes didn't raise a few red flags in their head. Leliel had been far too accommodating to them, even pleasant to talk to after a fashion. They were waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Leliel to drop the affable persona and reveal what she was planning.

It would be easier to comprehend than what was happening now.

"So, what shall we talk about now?" Leliel attempted to break the ice as it were, since she was something of the 'host' here.

"How much of time and history are you actually aware of?" Shinji asked, the most pressing question was to determine if the Angel was actually a hostile. It could be as nice as it wanted, but if it was actually something that had to be taken down, he wouldn't hesitate.

"The ebb and flow of time is more akin to a reel of events than an actual experience or awareness of said events. I may have knowledge of things that have happened in my slumber, but it is a fuzzy, clouded haze that I can discern nothing from." Leliel answered, pausing to consider her answer first.

"That makes sense." Asuka decided to allow Shinji time to digest the answer more carefully, so they didn't jump to anything rash. "One long, pointed dream that just seems to fog away the more you are awake."

"A suitable analogy I suppose." Leliel allowed the point, nodding her head with the reasoning.

"Do you know when your dream began?" Rei asked, more than likely wanting to know when exactly Leliel first sprang to life. Having accepted her nature as the vessel of the soul of Lilith, Rei found herself more than a little intrigued with the nature of the other Angels.

"An accurate time I don't have, but it seems long to my senses. Before the great fires at the very minimum." Leliel said, not sure how to answer, but gave it a shot anyways.

'_Before Second Impact at the very minimum eh_?' Rei nodded, accepting the answer and deciding not to prod further.

"How long have you been awake?" Asuka asked, deciding that it was her turn.

"Roughly 4 or 5 weeks, it is difficult to tell time here." Leliel liked easy questions, she didn't even have to think very hard for this answer. "During this time I have been moving from place to place, the voices changing from place to place."

It was during the pause that followed this answer that the Evangelion pilots found themselves conflicted. They had come to kill this Angel, and found a likeable entity, one that offered kinship and knowledge without reservation. In essence, they had stormed the tyrant's castle to find a lonely little girl looking for a friend.

Before now, this had been a simple job: giant monsters are attacking, you must fight them to the death because they will never surrender, never stop until you and everyone else is dead. The doubts that had creeped in during the aftermath of the encounter with Iruel were being reinforced something fierce now. What if they were wrong to have killed the other Angels? What if they were equally intelligent and had much the same to offer, if only they could communicate with them on the same level?

And could they really kill this Angel, this being who had been nothing but a courteous host to them since they had met her?

"I wonder sometimes," Leliel said, seeing as no questions were forthcoming and needing to break the silence, "just where I came from and what I'm supposed to be doing. No matter the time I spend on this question, the answer still isn't clear. It is... troubling."

The three teenagers shared a chuckle at Leliel's confession, feeling the very familiar uncertainty behind it. While they weren't get exponents of existential angst, they at least understood the emotions behind the thought. I mean, who didn't think about their place in the grand scheme of things once in a while?

"You're not alone on that." Asuka, as the most diplomatic of the group, managed to answer the inquiry. "But the answer isn't easily found, but the journey for it is definitely worth it."

Before things could proceed further, there was a loud growling that seemed to come from every direction.

"What the hell is happening?" Shinji asked, not really caring about minding his words at the moment.

"I'm not sure," Leliel admitted as she began to check things out. After a second, it became apparent as the ground they were stationed on began to tremor violently.

"What the...?" Rei managed to get out, before being pitched forward.

"Oh no, I forgot about the exit of this place." Leliel muttered to herself as she looked up to see the subtle movements of the Dirac sea start to warp and contort themselves into odd shapes. "This landmass is about to pass through this area."

"That means what for us?" Shinji asked, even as he got a real bad feeling about it.

"I don't know. No one has survived in her for any period of time that I was aware of them. But I do know that what lies on the other side is not the same place you came from." Leliel tried to sum it up as best and fast as she could. "We only have minutes before the landmass crumbles from the strain of passing through."

"Not the same place...?" Shinji asked before he shouted to Rei and Asuka, "To the Evangelion, hurry!"

It took them only thirty seconds to be back inside the machine gods that they rode about like faithful steeds, but they found the instruments going haywire on them. The negative energy around them was fluctuating heavily and they wouldn't be able to be pulled out by the cables. They'd have to find another solution, but what?

"You three, my friends, you must listen because I can only say this once." Leliel began, chewing her lip as she revealed a secret she had been keeping from them. "This place isn't just my domain, it is my body. You are inside me, and are in danger of being passed from this dimension to somewhere else."

"Those dreams then," Asuka began, looking over towards Shinji, Unit-02 mimicking the motion.

"...were a glimpse of the world where we'd go." Shinji finished as a pit began to form in his stomach, but not because of what lie on the other side. He could feel the emotions hiding beneath the words being said and he did not like them one bit.

"I don't know if you'll make it through, or if you could ever return to your world." Leliel started the hard part of her speech, when she was suddenly cut off by Shinji.

"Don't! Don't say what I think you're going to say," his voice thick with emotion as he tried to choke back the sudden feeling of fear and despair threatening to overtake him at any moment. "There has to be another way, there is always another way!"

"Shinji, what are you saying?" Rei asked for herself and Asuka, Unit-00 now staring at Unit-01 as well.

"So you've already grasped what I mean to say," Leliel seemed relieved about that, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. "If you understand, then please don't make this harder than it has to be. You know what I mean to say, and arguing only brings us both closer to disaster."

"What is she talking about?" Asuka suddenly felt very afraid of the answer.

"Since this is her body, and if we pass through it, we'd no long be in our world and would be lost in whatever world is on the other side. We might never come back to this one and we don't have a way out of her as of now, the only recourse is to stop the motion of the sea."

"And we do that how?" Rei demanded, though she suspected the answer, which didn't seem to be a desirable solution right at the moment.

"By killing her." Shinji never sounded so small, defeated and sad in his life before now. This Angel was one that deserved to live, damn it all! She deserved more than to be forced to sacrifice herself so that they would be able to stay in their world! In the name of whatever deity is watching, damn it all to their approximate versions of hell!

"I'm sorry, so very sorry but we have little time to debate. I won't force you, but I would be honored to lay down my life for you. I was so alone before, but now, I have these feelings that I have shared with you, and have gotten from you, to buoy my soul to its final rest. If I have to die, let it be to save you." She was crying now, and likely, they all were.

"It's not fair, it's really not fair! First Iruel and now you! Why? Why does it have to be this way?" Asuka buried her hands in her face, missing as Shinji slowly drew Unit-01's sidearm.

"Shinji, you don't... you can't!" Rei moved to stop him, but Unit-01 held up a hand and stopped her.

"Don't. Just don't. I don't want to do this, oh god, I don't want to do this, but I don't want to risk everything being alright." He was bawling, probably couldn't even really see at the moment. "We lost track of time, and we all are paying the price. But if it has to be done, let me carry the sin. Don't burden yourselves with it, please."

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-" Unit-00 turned blue, but moved away as Rei couldn't even finish the swear before she broke down.

"Shinji." Asuka said quietly, eyes closed as her heart threatened to break further. "Don't let her suffer, please."

"I won't. One to two shots, as swift as I can." He promised, wiping his eyes clean as he turned to face Leliel, who had become transparent to show her core.

"I wish we had more time, wish it didn't have to be this way." She said, before she opened her eyes. "Do it now, before either one of us stops."

"I'm sorry... I love you." The gun roared louder than anything Shinji had ever heard, and echoed for what seemed to be forever. It was all that was needed, as the darkness broke and splintered around them. The light of the sun only served as a reminder of the horrible deed that was just done.

Unit-01 collapsed to its knees, as Shinji stared where Leliel was, where she had been smiling and talking so innocently. He begged his eyes to not forget how she looked, begged his ears not to forget the sound of her voice. It wasn't long before he broke down again, being forcibly removed from the Entry Plug by Asuka and Rei, who held him close and cried as well.

The transport that retrieved them was fast to arrive, but slow to return, the understated need to allow them some time to heal, even a little, was overwhelmingly obvious.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Commander," Aoba called, having returned to the vigil about an hour ago. "Unit-03 and its pilot have arrived."

"A new kid, I wonder what he's like." Hyuga said, pausing briefly to glare at Maya's seat, whom was still gone. So was Misato and Ritsuko, which just made things worse.

"Excellent, we shall have to greet our new weapon against the Angel shortly, eh Sensei?" Gendo was being slightly smug, which rubbed Fuyutsuki the wrong way. I mean, who gloats about beating an old man in racquetball?

"Of course, Commander, but I am curious as to the pilot that was sent. He wasn't one of the school children, and the last Marduk Report did not list him." Fuyutsuki said, mentally flipping Gendo the bird and vowing to kick his ass in chess for a week straight instead of allowing him to escape with his dignity intact.

"A puzzle indeed, but we are both familiar in ways of circumventing the channels of Evangelion pilot selection." Gendo mouthed 'Rei' and suddenly, Fuyutsuki understood all too well. Another clone huh? If Rei was Lilith, then this would be...

"It's him isn't it?" Gendo's smug little smirk answered the question, and it took a great deal of willpower not to punch his face in. If only because Fuyutsuki still needed his hands.

"I am surprised that they had unveiled him so soon, but all will be revealed in due time." Gendo led the old man from the bridge, intent on checking out Unit-03 first. He was curious as to the reason why they sent this thing out, but he supposed they weren't too far along with other projects. Speaking of, he got a text from Kaji that revealed that he had secured the target and he had to laugh, pure unadulterated madness as he remembered what this particular thing was.

"Commander, is something wrong?" Fuyutsuki asked, not really concerned, but rather to try and get the man under control. The interns were watching, they might think this thing is acceptable, and soon everyone would be laughing mad.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all. Just a text from Kaji, it was a blooper video of people getting hit in the groin by footballs." Gendo had to hand it to the E-Net, they knew how to dig in and survive in this world: Viral videos of people harming themselves _always_ had a place in society.

"I suppose that warranted the maniacal laughter?" Fuyutsuki was doing his usual 'I don't approve of this, but I don't want to say it, so I'll shame you instead' routine. It was a personal secret honed from years of teaching assholes just like Gendo how to tell their asses from a hole in the ground.

"Always." Gendo grinned, just flat grinned and Fuyutsuki realized that Gendo had been bullshitting him hard. He'd inquire later about what was actually in the text, but they had a new blasphemous machine god to welcome to the stable. It felt good, sometimes, to wake up and flip the divine the bird something fierce. Sometimes.

"I do believe we have an Evangelion to inspect." Changing the subject just to keep things on schedule, it was this talent that lead the old man to this position after all.

"We're taking all precautions with it I take it?" Gendo didn't need to ask, but they were having a conversation and so needed something on-topic to say.

"Of course," Fuyutsuki said, looking ahead while keeping Gendo in his side view. "you and I both know not to trust them, and there's always the possibility raised by that Angel, Iruel I believe he was called?"

"If they could infect and take over a computer terminal, then an Evangelion should be child's play, considering what's underneath the shell." Gendo shrugged, the odds were low that such a thing could happen... but then, he wasn't he the one who held that the less likely something could happen, the more likely it was that it would?

"Yes, we're taking that into account, though the techs running the scans have no idea what their filtering out." Just as well, they wouldn't want to have to kill them for discovering the big secret. Fuyutsuki stretched a little as Unit-03 came into view.

"And I thought Units-00 and 01 were hard on the eyes." Gendo wasn't a fan of the bluish color scheme, but it did lack Unit-01's overall eat your face menace. Maybe he was expecting a little too much here, but the head looked kinda goofy, kinda.

"It is amazingly mundane looking." Fuyutsuki turned to the techs. "Is it clean?"

"Well if you mean outwardly, yeah, it's like it's been shined the entire flight over." The first tech tried to make a joke, but only exceeded in making a mess in his drawers when Gendo lifted him up by the throat and glared at him.

"This is not amateur mic night at a comedy improv." Fuyutsuki did the admonishing, just because Gendo remained far scarier by being silent.

"You'll have to pardon him, he has a terrible sense of humor and timing." The second tech, female and clearly having more sense than her partner, attempted to get him off the hook. "The scanners show that Evangelion Unit-03 has been infected by something, possibly an Angel. It's practically holding a neon sign over its head to say, 'Hi, I've been body snatched by an Angel, please destroy me.' " Gendo dropped the first tech and actually chuckled at the joke, which showed that if you were going to tell a joke, it had to be good.

"A sense of good protocol and an acute sense of timing in the matters of humor, she's definitely a keeper." Fuyutsuki gave an impromptu evaluation, as Gendo handed her a key card.

"Congratulations, you've been promoted and will receive full lab tech status." Gendo turned to look at Unit-03 for a long second before continuing. "Please see Tatsuya in accounting before consulting Masaru in parking to receive you upgrades in both pay and parking space."

The woman bowed heavily as she beat a hasty exit to do just that.

"So what do we do with our friend here?" Fuyutsuki looked ill at ease, if only because it could come alive at any moment and kill them all.

"Well, we won't activate it, since they apparently hadn't had time to test it out first to see if it'd even move." Gendo had spied a discarded PDA that had the relevant info and a request to do the stress testing for them. For a bunch of shadowy men seeking to become God, they were really stupid.

"But the Angel..." Fuyutsuki tried to make him aware of the threat, before Gendo silenced him with an annoyed look.

"You and I both know that an Evangelion that has never been activated is nothing more than a mass of flesh and metal If the Angel had any intelligence, it would have picked a better target or at least wait for a chance to infect this Evangelion before doing so." Gendo shook his head bruskly, looking up at Unit-03 and its quartet of nostrils. Hmm, that must be what was so off putting about it.

"So it's essentially useless to us and it?" Fuyutsuki couldn't believe their dumb luck.

"Yep." Gendo thought to himself for a long second, before turning to Fuyutsuki. "We need to stash this somewhere, even if it can't move at all, we don't want someone doing something stupid and turning it on."

"But where? If it's still here, it's in danger of being turned on." Fuyutsuki looked around for a second, before a chiming sound alerted them to the fact that Gendo just got another text.

"Oh ho, it would seem the kids have been recovered and that the current target has been neutralized. Not much else, but then I suppose I shouldn't have been a cheapskate on our texting plan." Gendo shook his head, having a bad feeling about what was left out of the text. "Anyways, what do we do with our Midnight Blue friend here?"

"We do have rockets and a special clearance from Tokyo-3 for emergency space launches in the name of defense." Fuyutsuki figured that if it was lost in space, no one could turn it on and damn them all.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you, Sensei." Gendo grinned madly again, as he moved to make the necessary orders to do just what was suggested.

"And here I thought it was my dashing good looks that kept you coming back." Both men shared a hearty laugh at that, as they left Unit-03, and by extension, Bardiel behind to stew in horror.

/-\ /-\ /-\

In an empty apartment, a young boy with white hair stands alone, a single suit case and the clothes on his back to his name. He looked down at the text message he received from NERV and could only feel a horrible sense of sadness and disappointment. He had been looking forward to this meeting for so very long, he hadn't slept at all over the course of the flight.

"But... they said it was to be my debut." Kaworu Nagisa complained, a lone tear tracing its way down his all too perfect cheek. His red pupils shined with irritation as he read the message over again. "How the hell do you lose an Evangelion?" Ah well, he'd get to meet Shinji another day he supposed, until then, his adoring public would have to wait.

End chapter 17

Teaser for chapter 18: "Only the Strong Survive"

"Hello Kaworu." Gendo's voice was chilling over the phone, but it wasn't everyday that the Commander of NERV made a courtesy call, so Kaworu let it slide.

"Hey, what's up?" Kaworu decided to play it cool, if only because he'd have to depend on Gendo to keep him around in Tokyo-3.

"Just making sure you're settling in." Gendo paused, before deciding to move on with the next bit of info he had. "I just wanted to let you know that your Evangelion came down with a nasty case of Angel poisoning and we had to put her down. Sorry."

"That's horrible!" The vessel of both Tabris and the soul of Adam managed to actually sound legitimately horrified.

"Yes, but don't worry, I have taken steps to replace that which you have lost." Gendo figured he'd throw the kid a bone here.

"And what might that be?" A night of hookers and blackjack would be a good start, though one without the other would suffice in a pinch.

"Well you'll see. For now, just enjoy the complimentary gift that will be arriving shortly."

Author note; And that about does it. Sorry it took so long, but writer's block. See you for 18.


	18. Only the Strong Survive

Disclaimer: Ladies and gentlemen, Zeruel.

Author note: And here we are, hitting the stretch run. Let's get to it. I would also like the time to thank the TFF/SB user Fourth Wall for the inspiration that led to our new cast member.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 18 Only the Strong Survive

by Marik Kurakashi

"Hello Kaworu." Gendo's voice was chilling over the phone, but it wasn't everyday that the Commander of NERV made a courtesy call, so Kaworu let it slide.

"Hey, what's up?" Kaworu decided to play it cool, if only because he'd have to depend on Gendo to keep him around in Tokyo-3.

"Just making sure you're settling in." Gendo paused, before deciding to move on with the next bit of info he had. "I just wanted to let you know that your Evangelion came down with a nasty case of Angel poisoning and we had to put her down. Sorry."

"That's horrible!" The vessel of both Tabris and the soul of Adam managed to actually sound legitimately horrified.

"Yes, but don't worry, I have taken steps to replace that which you have lost." Gendo figured he'd throw the kid a bone here.

"And what might that be?" A night of hookers and blackjack would be a good start, though one without the other would suffice in a pinch.

"Well you'll see. For now, just enjoy the complimentary gift that will be arriving shortly." That perked Kaworu's ears up, as Gendo wasn't known for his generosity.

"Huh, if that isn't sweet of you." It was, in a way, but he was just being cheeky.

"I'm a regular Saint, aren't I?" With that, Gendo hung up.

"Well, he hasn't changed all that much." Kaworu put the phone back in the cradle and contemplated what this gift could be. He didn't have long, as a brisk knock at the door interrupted his musings. Not wasting time, he quickly moved to the door and opened it, staring at the person on the other side.

She had long brown hair and her piercing, hungry blue eyes were hidden by a pair of stylish glasses, which were accented in red. Her face was smiling, and not the 'hello, nice to meet you' kind either, and she stood arms at the ready. Her clothing, a simple blouse and skirt combo with a pair of knee socks, clung to her form and made her all the more visually appealing.

This girl wasn't a stranger to Kaworu, he had seen her before when she was escorting Gendo to the place they happened to meet face to face. As feral now as then, the subtle threat of pain belied the invitation to experience pleasure with her. It was a typical statement made by Gendo Ikari: Loaded with promises and threats, though it was on your end to see which were fulfilled.

It was an absolute statement of explicit distrust from the Commander, one that Kaworu really should have expected.

"It's you." Kaworu wasn't as disappointed as the words might sound, if only because he didn't want to offend her.

"How good of you to remember me Nagisa." She said, her voice trilling with excitement as she sized him up. "I'll be your supervisor until the Commander calls upon you."

"Which means what exactly?" He had a good idea, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Be a good boy and do as I say, and you will live to enjoy the fruits the Commander has cultivated for you." And yes, she did stroke her breasts at fruits, why do you ask?

"If not, I'll die right? Hard choice there." He rolled his eyes, which was surprisingly allowed, considering that she had been sizing him up as though she was going to kill him, fuck him, or kill him by fucking. As far as experimental cloning procedures went, Gendo nailed a lot of low denominators in shaping her.

"I am not a harsh mistress," she said, her tone explicitly patronizing as she finally entered the apartment uninvited. "So I will allow you your smart talk for now. But be wary, the Beast is always hungry." She showed her teeth, all of them sharpened like fangs, giving her a bestial appearance under the beauty.

"They really need to feed that guy some time." Kaworu was mostly kidding with that, as he had seen first hand how she 'fed' the Beast, a wild Evangelion machine soul embedded into the body of something almost human.

"Are you offering a snack to Him?" Mari showed an impressive set of teeth, which caused Kaworu to reassess his statement.

"No, no, just making a stupid comment." He shrugged, not sure how else to continue this conversation.

"Well, for now, we shall have to get... acquainted for a bit." The unbelievable amount of suggestion in her tone actually makes Kaworu balk a little.

"I know you were created to fuck, kill or even kill by fucking, but that is just a bit much." Kaworu, while not the most sensitive man ever, had at least enough sense not to fall straight into such lurid exploitation. Yet.

"And I'm dressed in a totally sexualized manner, were you expecting me to be a great philosopher?" Mari shrugged, which wound up displaying the wonders of her very flimsy bra. "Besides, keeping me happy keeps me from coming after your neck."

"You make a very convincing argument as to why I should just shut the hell up and do as you say. So I might do that, but I warn you, the bed looks mighty uncomfortable." Well, he tried. And if she was threatening to kill him if he didn't do as she said, well, what was he to do? Fight her? Considering she was created by the same process as he was, she likely had powers specifically designed to kick his ass. Gendo would not send someone to guard him if that someone couldn't also take him out if the need arose for it.

"We'll have to soften it up a little then." She stalked past him, towards the bedroom, likely having been briefed on the layout before hand.

"Ah well, there's worse things to be doing." Like killing cats. Anyways, Kaworu followed Mari to the bedroom, deciding that keeping her happy was more important than moral high ground.

/-\ /-\ /-\

In the weapons lab, Ritsuko was overseeing the final touches on the new weapon suites to be used by the Evangelion the next time an Angel popped up. The kids had been given lots of time off to deal with what they saw down in that hole, with only Rei showing up occasionally to check Unit-00. It seemed she had grown fond of her war steed, as she called it, after an absurd fashion. But her, she had to fly the damn thing, so if she cared for it, it would make her even more reluctant to get it smashed to bits.

Ritsuko shook her head as she remembered the mess those three had been in, and the looks on their faces. Those looks made her hate the Evangelion just a bit more than she already did as a scientist, because if those things weren't finicky fuckers, they could have adults piloting the things and hopefully not have to subject teenagers to this shit. She bit off a growl as she thought about the data they had gathered on the Angel down in the hole, Leliel they called it, and it really wasn't good.

Their enemies were growing far more intelligent and more sapient seeming than before, which was the root of the problem.

Sure, Asuka and Rei were both trained for most of their lives for this job, but Asuka's personality and uncanny empathy undermined all the lessons she had learned. And Rei, well, Ayanami's new emotional self just made it harder for the really big hits not to hurt like hell. Besides, they were still teenagers, well physically for Rei the second, and that really didn't help with all those hormones running around in their systems.

But what really concerned Ritsuko was Shinji, the cocksure ace of Project-E was completely off his gourd with guilt. He didn't seem into the whole blaming himself for everything schtick, but he had been doing a good job picking it up. Thankfully, Misato and the others had cut off or stopped it from going beyond some loud moping, so there wasn't a lot to worry about right now.

What really threw her though, was Gendo's intervention back into his son's affairs after leaving him autonomous for his stay in Tokyo-3.

It seemed the strength of the father's stoicism bled off onto the son, the latter becoming more stable the longer he spent time with his father. He had been with him for the last couple days, and already he was cracking wise again, which alleviated some of her linger stress. Warm fuzzies were in short supplies with the elder Ikari around, but you had to at least admire his ability to shepherd his troops when he had to.

Misato was overseeing the preps for the disposal of Unit-03 right now, the process taking a while as they tried to keep the secret of it being infected with an Angel from the kids, given their attachment to the last one. But the red tape was finally cut away and they'd be launching the sucker into space, the idiot not even having the common sense to possess an already active Evangelion. She had also been keeping tabs on the new kid, the poor sap they shipped with the infected Evangelion, who would apparently join them once they had everything ready to slot him on the roster.

Even now, with no Angel bearing down on them, they were all so very busy.

"At least the Commander has kept the new kid away, I'd hate for him to get caught up in this circus." Ritsuko muttered to herself, not out particular compassion for Kaworu, but more just because she was afraid he'd get lost somewhere in the HQ and never be seen again.

"You say something Doctor?" Ron asked, over his shoulder as he directed the final adjustments like a conductor.

"Nothing of much importance, I'm used to having Misato or someone else to share my evil scientist thoughts with." It was true, at least with Misato. Talking to Maya was to be done only if you had the word pillow in front of it.

"Oh I know the feeling. Sometimes I wonder if I hired Lei for her brains or if I just like having someone to scheme up new weapons with." Ron, as a mad engineer, shared the passion for mad rantings to a cohort it would seem.

"Nothing like a good co-conspirator to brighten your day." Ritsuko said, not entirely lying as Misato was often good for a laugh. She paused to watch the interns work and a thought occurred to her. "We have one hell of an intern program." Some of that was a pretext for Gendo's other duties as the chief of _**SCIENCE **_ at NERV, but it did produce good workers.

"They do most of the heavy lifting around here, along with whoever else gets recruited." Ron agreed, though if he were in the know, the term 'created in a mad experiment' would have applied too.

"Ah, secretly funding the pipeline college so we can abuse the interns as we please. Sometimes I wonder what we'd do if there weren't giant monsters bent on Humanity's destruction rampaging about." Not too often, as it sounded pretty boring in her head.

"I don't, because I love this job too much to worry about that morality bull." Ron shot from the hip, drawing a nod from NERV's other mad scientist.

"Yeah, I mean, where else would we have access to these wonderful toys?" Ritsuko and Ron shared a smile, one that made the interns sweat more from nerves than the actual work.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Thanks for telling me of the situation, and I'm glad I could help you in keeping Daten City in check." Gendo said into the phone, having been called by an old acquaintance of his. "The Anarchy sisters are of particular interest to me, as their development will help future projects along." He looked at the folder of the two, one a blonde with a facial scar, the other with long dark blue hair, eating a cake. And of course, he couldn't say what those projects were, but the other man didn't need to know that.

"Heaven thanks you all the same, and don't hesitate to call me if you run into a ghost, because..." Gendo cut the other man off, having heard this all before.

"Ghosts can only be defeated by the garb of the Holy Virgin wielded by those two. You say that every time." He didn't mean to sound annoyed, but he wouldn't forget something like that.

"Nice to see you pay attention." The other man laughed heartily and hung up.

"I really shouldn't have given him my number." Gendo muttered, always coming away with an unclean feeling from these calls from the man in Daten.

"Commander, the launch is finally ready." Fuyutsuki showed up just in time to derail any oncoming angst trains.

"Finally, some good news." Gendo was exaggerating a bit, he had also found out he saved a bunch of money on his car insurance today as well. "Even if it is just pushing the button after a countdown, I still feel a certain... thrill at the thought."

"Launching your enemies into space was always a threat from super villains in the comics I grew up with." A pointless factoid, but relevant to the topic. Fuyutsuki liked this part of his job of having to keep Gendo in line.

"You threatened to shoot the heavyweight champion into space after he attacked me backstage once." That had been a hoot and a half, as the champ sold the threat for all it was worth. He missed Osaka sometimes. Only sometimes though.

"I had to ad-lib since I had missed your big turn the week before." Damn head colds, always ruining things.

"It's still played in clips on the e-net somewhere." Gendo watched his old promos, remembering when he was younger, fitter and lacking a dead wife. But hey, Yui was a fiend in the sack, and she had a way with words too. And surprisingly, the sex came in second in that equation.

"I would hope so, it was a classic line." The old man preened a bit and Gendo pretended not to notice it as they made they way to the command center, now serving as launch control for their shuttle.

"Aoba, tell me that everything is ready." Gendo really wanted to send the Angel into space, really really wanted to make it so.

"We're waiting on your order sir." Aoba managed with a lack of fear. If only because he had good news to say, so he didn't need to fear reprisal.

"Very good," Gendo said, a wide grin splitting his features. He had been waiting for this moment for a while now. "If everything is ready, then let's send that Evangelion jacking bastard into space."

"Roger, the order has been given and received, the countdown will commence." Maya said, feeling a bit giddy. "T-minus 1 minute, launch area is clear."

"It occurs to me that this is a very nasty thing to do to a living, sentient creature." Fuyutsuki commented quietly to Gendo, if only to move the conversation further along.

"Yeah, it is. But then I remember the origins of the Evangelion and then I realize that I have no moral legs to stand on." Gendo was honest when he felt like it, which seemed to be now. "But hey, we do have to give him a special farewell, he made it all the way here without us knowing it. If only his luck had held up, we'd all be dead."

"Duly noted, Commander." Fuyutsuki let the comments wash over him and for once, found comfort in his pupil's inhumanity. That pragmatic practicality is what kept him in charge after all.

"...three, two, one! Ignition! We have lift off!" Maya exclaimed in an overly exuberant tone. On screen, the rocket carrying Unit-03 and its angelic passenger shot off into the sky. The crew of NERV watched it go, bidding a silent farewell to the Evangelion they never got to use. Opinions on the design were mixed, but they all agreed that the pilot had shitty luck because of what happened.

Still, space was a nice place this time of year... or so they say anyways.

/-\ /-\ /-\

There was a place Rei liked to go from time to time at NERV HQ that no one knew about, a heaven for no one else but her. The Commander and Dr. Akagi probably suspected she came here, but they said nothing, so she assumed they didn't care enough to know. But here she was, way down in the bowels of the HQ, in what was known as the Terminal Dogma, where all the naughtiest secrets of NERV was kept.

Down here you had the always scenic Evangelion graveyard, the poor unfortunate failures of the process to build a new age machine god. There was also some giant white thing trussed up to the wall, that Rei had finally recognized as Lilith, the Angel whose soul she was carrying around. Creepy looking to say the least, but Rei waved in the general direction of the matriarch and progenitor of mankind.

She took a left, and found herself at her destination: the holding vat for all of the Rei Ayanami clones.

It was to be expected really, with the fragility of life and the odds of successful cloning being what they were, that there would be a large number of copies made of the same clone. And moreover, exhaustive tests to see if tweaking the process, formula and all manner of variables to see if the process could make a perfect duplicate of the original purpose. Needless to say, that was a huge failure on the Commander's part, but Rei couldn't hold it against him, since she owed her very life to this screw-up.

A moment passed before she stripped naked and entered the special entry plug that would basically jam her into the giant vat of LCL and well, herself. The feeling of the LCL against her naked flesh always tickled a little, something she was sure she'd never get used to, as if she'd want to at any rate. The clone nearest the entrance opened her eyes and smiled at the prodigal clone, and soon, the whole place was awake and alert.

"Welcome back Second." The clone said with an odd warmth, if only because she looked just like Rei, but sounded more human than her. Must be one of the later clones, after Gendo did some experimenting with the process.

"Aye, it's good to see you all again." It had been weeks since she had visited, and she felt a bit guilty about it. You couldn't call them her "sisters", since, well, they were her as well.

"Things a bit hectic outside are they?" Another clone spoke up, her voice wafting off the mass of Reis.

"Just a bit, yes." Rei returned easily, looking around from face to face, and allowing herself to become more docile. They were her other clones, other parts of herself, and unlike the First, she would appreciate them. And if the unexpected happened, the one to carry on for her would do so with pride.

"It's not Shinji or Asuka is it?" Yet another clone asked, somewhere from the back. Ah yes, she had informed them of this development with the other two Evangelion pilots.

"No, but then, I would not be here if it was." Rei shook her head and smiled, trying to show she didn't mean to sound defensive.

"Then what could it be?" came the inevitable query, such as it was.

"I just need to recenter myself a bit after a rough time or two." Rei really didn't want to elaborate too much, but she would probably have to unearth the entire incident with both Iruel and Leliel

"Is that all?" None of them brought it, but the Second never really came down here outside of courtesy visits and to take a dip with them meant she was really messed up. "Well, we won't make you tell us, so just relax and try to forget your troubles for just a little bit." So understanding, it almost was weird until Rei remembered they all were her, with subtle changes in appearance and personality to each.

"Mm." She said nothing, but that bit of reassurance, of a place that she could escape for them world and forget. Just forget her pain, her insecurity, and everything that was bothering her. The one would return among the many and lose herself for a while, empty out all the interred angst and anguish, squeeze out the sorrow and become whole once more. Rei Ayanami was many things, clone, Evangelion pilot, budding young woman, but here, she was just one of the many. She wasn't special, she wasn't unique, she was just Rei the Second, the follow up model to a predecessor who couldn't keep her trap shut long enough.

In this tank, hidden away from humanity, Rei Ayanami had finally come home.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"I must say, Kaji," Gendo said as the man landed the transport carrying the special cargo that the named man had acquired for the commander of NERV. "while I ask a lot of you, you have a knack for coming through in a pinch."

"Normally, I would be modest or say something about how hard it was, but the people in charge of this thing were just so stupid." Kaji bowed his head a little as he engaged the conversation at a leisurely pace. "And I'd make an analogy, but I can't think of one that isn't horribly insulting, I shouldn't insult them by comparing them to those bunch of bozos."

"Yes, it is most unfortunate that our branches do not have the eye for talent or the mind required to helm such a delicate operation." That and Gendo had personally jacked all the competent people for himself. He was going to save the world, and he knew he needed help to do it. But even then, it didn't excuse the apparent ease of this theft.

"I didn't have to mention those people, and just said that I was under orders to bring it to NERV Japan so they could finish the work and get it ready for battle." Kaji continued, letting the boast slide by without comment, it just wasn't his place. Gendo had Fuyutsuki to call him out when his head began to swell.

"To be fair, they had been working around the clock since we sent them the corpses of several Angels trying to incorporate the secrets of them into the Evangelion." Gendo said with a shrug, both verbally and non, giving their American staff some credit.

"I'm sure the staff here can do that better, though we might want to wait to turn it on first." Kaji said, having read over the disturbingly detailed notes from the staff who seemed too happy to just hand the project over to him. "They were successful in just implanting the S2 engine when I took it."

"From your warning, I doubt they figured on a way to regulate a perpetual energy source so it doesn't go sky high on them." Gendo frowned, making sure to turn his head to the side, just so Kaji would know it wasn't directed at him. Now he had a reason to completely agree with the assessment that they were idiots of stupendous proportions, who would think that an infinite supply of energy wouldn't need regulating in some fashion? Besides, if this integration was so easy, they'd have done it themselves and not shipped it off on the B-team. "Well, Akagi has been complaining she hasn't gotten to do much **SCIENCE** in a while, so I suppose this will make her happy." Gendo had apparently lifted the nifty vocal effects from Bardiel.

"Oh, I'm sure Ritsuko will just love this." Kaji said, looking on as Evangelion Unit-04 was unloaded. The chrome with red and black highlights were a nice touch, so he had to give them credit for picking a decent color scheme. "I suppose the only other issue is making sure there is no passengers on this one."

"Indeed, and the other package you got for me a while back has finally come in, lousy postal service." Gendo said, segueing into another topic. It felt good to know that the Lance was finally in his possession, but now he needed to store it away before one of the kids did something stupid with it. Like chuck it into orbit or something.

"My bad, I couldn't afford the postage from Antarctica." Kaji laughed a little at the joke, though the reason for the slowness was because of the sudden change in his mission to go to NERV USA and get Unit-04.

"Oh it's no worry," Gendo said, stretching a little. "In fact, I think that it has taken a while to get has been good for us."

"How is everyone anyways?" Kaji asked, curious as to status of Asuka and the others.

"Physically, good. Now, emotionally... that's a whole can of worms. I suppose I can brief on all the messy details of the last couple missions. Except the stuff about Unit-03, since I already relayed that to you." Gendo finished his little speech, glancing sidelong at Kaji.

"Sounds like this might take a while," Kaji said, having a bad feeling about this. "But I asked, so I can't back out now."

"To the cafeteria then, we need something to drink first." Gendo said, as lead the way.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Three weeks had passed without incident, but in this shattered world, such time was a fleeting thing. There was a JSSDF base 100 km west from Tokyo-3, and it was a routine day of patrol and drills. All these soldiers went through their days, secure in the knowledge that this was just another day, just another one of those ho-hum boring days that you needed a stiff drink to forget.

"And lo do my eyes weep at the state of this base planet filled with worthless wretches. It pains me to think of this world, once a shining gem of richest blue and brilliant green has been reduced a ball of mud, clung to by vermin who should not be. They scurry about, as though they have purpose, as though they have meaning. As though their lives have any intrinsic value in the grand schemes of the Almighty powers that be." A voice boomed from on high, peeling along like the deepest roll of thunder, reverberating like the aftershock of an earthquake. The soldiers could not hear the words spoken, but they could feel their menace. Their blood ran cold, they broke out in a nervous sweat as a tidal wave of killer intent washed over them and pulled them under. All these men could tell that this voice belonged to a being far their greater, to an entity beyond the scope of their minds. Its words were too grand for their ears, its logic far above their punitive imaginations.

"Once more do I stand upon this defiled Earth, here to cleanse it of the infestation that has plagued it for far too long. Look at what these pieces of trash have done to you, O Noble Gaea, how they have ruined everything that you have given to them, provided for them as the loving Mother you are. I can feel them scuffling about, scampering around all across your once lustrous skin. And I say, NO MORE!" The voice snarled, a shadow blacker than midnight enveloped the base in an instant. The soldiers could not see, nor could they understand what was about to occur. A speck of light, as brilliant as the first rays of dawn, cut through the twilight, bringing the wonder of light unto these doomed men before they were obliterated in a massive explosion, the flames twisting into a large cross. For miles you could see the fire reach for the heavens, after if drug upward by the souls that were lost within its wicked embrace.

"The creature known as man, hear my words and shiver as I am the harbinger of your demise. Tremble as you perceive my name and know that your doom is a certainty, ordained by the forces that govern this wretched existence." Descending from the sky was an enormous figure, roughly on par if not larger than an Evangelion, it used an AT-field to slow its descent. Its legs were short and stubby, lacking feet, marking that bipedal transit via them was not very likely. It lacked apparent arms, two very thin strips were attached to what was likely the being's shoulders. Its face was garish, looking like it was cobbled together at the last second with no thought given to how it would turn out. Still, it looked damn scary, as the act of drawing breath alone was enough to subtly alter the pattern of the wind.

"My name is Zeruel, the Angel of Might. Strength is my domain and I will crush your precious Evangelion as if they were ants before an elephant. You have struggled admirably for a while now, but it ends now. Before me, you are nothing but specks of dust on the winds of the cosmos. I hear the cries of He who gave me life, His desire that all of you pathetic worms be exterminated." Zeruel drew breath once more and unleashed it all in one tremendous roar that rattled loose the branches of the surrounding trees.

"And I obey."

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Blue signal detected and it's a big one!" Maya cried as she analyzed the data coming back from the scanner.

"Currently 70 miles from Tokyo-3 and rapidly approaching! Current estimated time of arrival: 2 hours!" Hyuga called as he brought up a visual of Zeruel hovering towards Tokyo-3 with purpose.

"It seems to have evaded our scanners before now," Aoba said, checking the back logs for any unnoticed detections. "The direction it's approaching from, there's a JSSDF base there a hundred miles back."

"But if we couldn't detect it before..." Maya said, trailing off as she realized the implication: the Angel had destroyed the base with all too apparent ease.

"There's a large dissipating heat source behind the Angel roughly 30 miles from it. It's... it's likely the base." Hyuga's heart fell through to his stomach. Before now, the Angels had seemed pretty ineffectual at accomplishing their goal of destroying humanity. Yet this Angel just now was already looking to be the biggest threat they faced.

"No pressure Captain, but we'll have to wing it a bit if we want to stop it." Gendo said to Misato, who was deep in thought. She had always come up with a plan, a talent she used to gain fame for something other than surviving at ground zero of Second Impact. But Gendo knew all those other times, she had ample warning to plan her moves and crunch the data accordingly, this wouldn't be easy.

"What's the status on the Evangelion?" Misato asked, who let out a heavy sigh as she tried to think as fast as she could.

"They've finished being outfitted with their new weapon systems and are being loaded onto the catapults. Looks to be ready for launch in 45 seconds tops." Aoba answered, having already started tracking their progress before the question had been asked.

"Good," Misato said, steeling herself to go through with this plan of action. "I want them to form a gauntlet for the Angel: Rei, then Shinji, then Asuka. They are not to engage the Angel as a group."

"But that's crazy!" Maya cried, thinking Misato had clearly flipped her lid.

"No, that's taking into account all the data we've had up to now. It's moving too fast and we don't have time to waste on a quick skirmish and withdrawing if it appears we can't hack it. Also, considering the fortress Angel, the battlefield would be too crowded for them to use their new weapons effectively and they'd like be forced to defend each other too much, wearing them down as the Angel exerts minimal effort. This way, they can maneuver around without having to dodge each other and there's no one else to cover so they can fight back instead of shielding themselves over and over." Misato didn't even look out of breath, nor did she let it show that she had just come up with that speech a minute ago.

"I suspect there's another reason too, Captain." Gendo managed to order her to speak without being overtly forceful. And for Gendo, that was like holding back the tide.

"The last Angel, Leliel they called her, shook them pretty bad. The kids have been hanging out a lot more and talking about her, and that Iruel as well." Misato shook her head as she revealed what was likely very private information on the pilots, but she had to get this out there. "If this was before those two incidents, I'd likely say that they'd be able to work together. But now, their minds aren't on fighting as a team, they seem to be treating each other like they're made of glass. I can't put them in a situation where they'll be helpless because they're too worried about the others beside them."

"Very well, I will trust your judgment on this." Gendo said, looking at Misato for a long second. When she nodded her head, it told Gendo that there was indeed far more going on than he was aware of with his son and the other kids. He'd have to sit down with the boy sometime and chat with him, at least try being fatherly, couldn't hurt. "Relay the order and launch the Evangelion once they are acknowledged."

"Transmitting orders to Evangelion now." Aoba said, Hyuga and Maya far too worried about the possible outcome of this coming battle to do their jobs.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Alright Rei, you're up first." Misato said, as Unit-00 hefted its new chaingun suite and waited for Zeruel to appear. "Do not sacrifice yourself to take it out, if you win, good. If not, just make sure he can't kill you. You are only the advance guard, so your job is to aid the others as much s possible by making him drag out all of his tricks."

"Roger that," Rei said, trying her best to focus on the fight before her. It was hard, especially with the idea of an Angel who could talk and appeared capable of intelligent thought. That it wanted to destroy them all just seemed like a waste.

"Oh ho, is this the first of your Evangelion? Are you wretched vermin so arrogant to think that one alone could defeat me?" Zeruel sounded amused, which was a feat to say the least. He continued forward, just getting sight of Unit-00 to make that quip.

"You can blame the ones who carried the torch before you." Rei said, as she took aim an waited for the Angel to give her an opening.

"If you are comparing me to them, then you must consider the pebble a suitable comparison for the mountain." Zeruel halted his movement, hovering across from the Evangelion. A long moment passed as he felt a very familiar feeling. "This sensation, so it is you then. How trite, that you would stand as the advanced guard for these creatures far your inferior."

"So you can tell what I am." Rei closed her eyes, a picture of Lilith strung up on the wall flashing in her head. "Of all the Angels, it would be you who would recognize me."

"Of course, I can almost smell Her from where I stand. It is a pity to see Her so reduced." Zeruel growled, his strip-like arms unfolding as he prepared for battle.

"And it's a pity that you're so conceited." Rei said, opening fire once Zeruel made a hostile move. The rounds splattered against the AT-field of the Angel, the slugs being shattered by the imposing force of the barrier. Rei ceased fire almost immediately. "I hope this works. Switch to oscillating rounds." The chaingun whirled loudly for a second, then Rei once again opened fire, the rounds emitting a frequency that allowed them to start penetrating the AT-field before them.

"So you have some tricks, o possessor of Her Rotten Soul. But you aren't the only one with some tricks up your sleeves." Zeruel laughed as the rounds pounded through his field, the rounds impacting heavily on his skin. They didn't gain much penetration as the flesh seemed to harden and repel the frequency that allowed them to bypass the field.

"Switch to armor piercing incendiary round." Rei commanded, stopping her onslaught for a second to change rounds again. She wasn't sure the amount of bullets in there, but she would have to guess that was a lot. Steeling herself, Rei expanded her own field, removing Zeruel's protection before she resumed firing.

"Hah! At least you shall provide me entertainment before I crush you neath my heel!" Zeruel laughed again even as the rounds laced through his skin, by passing the hardened shell like it wasn't even there. Blood sprayed as the titanic Angel fell back under the assault, the thin strip-like arms shooting forward in a surprise attack on Unit-00.

"Whoa!" Rei jinked out of the way, stopping her onslaught momentarily to ensure that the sudden attack failed. "Guess I shouldn't let my guard down around you."

"How prudent, wench." Zeruel's head warped in grotesque fashion, becoming a gaping maw with a single bead of light. Rei just barely pulled her field back and defended herself when the Angel unleashed a beam attack that would have made Ramiel proud if the giant diamond fortress was capable of such emotions.

"This could be... troublesome." Rei said, her AT-field retracting from around her once the beam had subsided. She gazed into the gaping maw of Zeruel and dug in, knowing this fight was gonna be a long one.

End Chapter 18

Teaser for Chapter 19 "My Destruction is On Your Mind":

"This is getting out of hand." Misato said, as she watched the fight between Zeruel and Rei pick up. "How the hell can that thing do all that?"

"What, besides being an alien monstrosity bent on humanity's destruction?" Aoba asked which earned him a slap on the back of the head from Maya. "Ow!"

"Yes, beside that! It has to have bones or something solid to give it shape! It shouldn't be able to do that!" Misato was, of course, referring to Zeruel warping his body as though it were made of clay.

"Not necessarily." Gendo said, drawing attention to him. "Beyond the enormous regenerative abilities of the Angels, we have seen something similar to this before."

"The Angel of the Volcano I presume?" Fuyutsuki asked, drawing a nod from the Commander.

"I think we may have misidentified that Angel's capabilities," Gendo said, as he watched Rei attempt to outmaneuver Zeruel. "It wasn't rapid evolution, but really hyperactive re-adaptation."

"Say what?" Misato asked, drawing agreeing nods from the bridge crew.

"Not so much misidentified but dumbed down, I suppose." Fuyutsuki spotted the problem immediately when almost no one caught what was said.

End note: Wow, I took forever. Well, the good news is that with the next chapter being nothing but action and no need for set-up, I might be able to get it done faster. See you for 19.


	19. My Destruction is On Your Mind

Disclaimer: Retcon punching like the Fist of the Fucking North Star

Author note: Well, here's chapter 19, very late due to writer's block and my old comp dying. Oh and the disclaimer is just alerting you that I'm probably going to be screwing with how Zeruel acts in this chapter, since I don't believe in rewrites, so if it doesn't fit, blame it on me being too bullheaded to copy-pasta the last chapter and fix it.

The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion

Chapter 19 My Destruction is On Your Mind

By Marik Kurakashi

"This is getting out of hand." Misato said, as she watched the fight between Zeruel and Rei pick up. "How the hell can that thing do all that?"

"What, besides being an alien monstrosity bent on humanity's destruction?" Aoba asked which earned him a slap on the back of the head from Maya. "Ow!"

"Yes, beside that! It has to have bones or something solid to give it shape! It shouldn't be able to do that!" Misato was, of course, referring to Zeruel warping his body as though it were made of clay.

"Not necessarily." Gendo said, drawing attention to him. "Beyond the enormous regenerative abilities of the Angels, we have seen something similar to this before."

"The Angel of the Volcano I presume?" Fuyutsuki asked, drawing a nod from the Commander.

"I think we may have misidentified that Angel's capabilities," Gendo said, as he watched Rei attempt to outmaneuver Zeruel. "It wasn't rapid evolution, but really hyperactive re-adaptation."

"Say what?" Misato asked, drawing agreeing nods from the bridge crew.

"Not so much misidentified but dumbed down, I suppose." Fuyutsuki spotted the problem immediately when almost no one caught what was said.

"Vocabulary is a harsh mistress, yes." Gendo said curtly, before continuing his explanation. "What I mean is that like that other Angel, this Angel's entire body seems to be more malleable and easier to shift and change as opposed to some of the others, which just regrew the bits we hacked off fast."

Blank stares greeted the Commander of NERV, who face-palmed due to not actually explaining anything to them.

"How to put this," he mumbled to himself before inspiration struck. "Aoba, you play video games a lot right?"

"Um… yes?" Aoba seemed to hesitate, because he was afraid of getting fired for such hobbies.

"Well, the Angel in the case is like a Boss character that keeps changing itself to throw off our methods of attack." God, Gendo hoped that was simple enough for them.

"Oh, why didn't you just say so?" Aoba hit Makoto for that, with Maya having to do her best to keep a slap fight from breaking out.

"Now, when you two are done goofing off," Misato started to order, but the idea of having to be told to do their jobs mortified them enough to stop their antics.

"We're on it ma'am." The Bridge Crew chorused together.

"Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like if I had to tell them what to do all the time." Misato said as she turned towards the Commander. "And then I realize that sounds positively nightmarish and that I shouldn't give myself the creeps like that."

"It's not a healthy attitude to have," Fuyutsuki agreed, nodding his head slightly in agreement at how horrible it'd be to not have the best and brightest at their beck and call.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Rei nodded her head in acknowledgement of the news she had just received. She had a theory on the ability possessed by Zeruel, but she was slightly off the mark. Still, his ability to shift and change at will was going to be a pain, so she decided to shut her mouth and fight.

As much as she wanted to talk reason into the alien being in front of her, the part of her that was Lilith knew it was futile. Of all of Adam's grotesque spawn, Zeruel was the mostly slavishly devoted with a fervor bordering on hysteria. The First Angel was his God, his everything, and could do no wrong in his eyes.

Too bad for the Angel of Might that his God had forsaken him for a human host, much as Lilith had done when she offered her gift of Life to Gendo.

Unit-00 shivered as Rei received a bit of Lilith's memories, a side effect of her tearing free her soul from its cage. Zeruel took that as an opportunity to strike, lunging forward without a verbal note, with only the sound of his newly formed feet slamming against the Earth to herald his charge… Shit, she had fallen into herself for a second there and got lost, as she hadn't even seen the transformation.

No words were exchanged as the modern day Titans clashed, the Earth trembling with every blow, the swiftness of Zeruel forcing Rei to abandon her weapon for the moment. Still, Rei was able to note that the Angel of Might had decided to go for big and intimidating instead of swift and sleek, which made him an easy target for the slighter Evangelion. Lightly, Unit-00 slid under a looping hook and slammed home a short uppercut to the body.

Stunned, Zeruel staggered backwards and was met with a flurry of punches. One out of every five thrown found a home, but did little damage as the Angel recovered his wits from the counter. An overhand right from him sent Rei skittering back, the fist easily smashing through the Earth below, forcing Unit-00 to skip and hop to avoid losing her footing.

With just a verbal noise of frustration, Rei had already recovered herself and lunged in once more.

It was an okay battle strategy, if you believed in going into every fight looking for one hit knock outs and such. Despite an even match in height, Zeruel's extra bulk gave him a decided power advantage… which was promptly wasted due to him conceding speed to the fly he was trying to swat. Not that Unit-00 lacked power, it just seemed that this Angel was the one model lacking a glass jaw, as he absorbed head shot after head shot and kept coming for more.

They came together in their ballet of death, a fist fight of mountains that stood as Gods and walked as men, their blows echoing off the surroundings in a staccato rhythm not unlike repeated cannon fire. Right hook to the face, left hook to the body, right uppercut to the chin, Rei felt her spirit soar as the blood rumbled through her veins in a torrent of unquenchable fire. Even if the monster felt no pain, the First Child knew he could feel frustration.

Under the din of their battle, she could hear his teeth grinding themselves to dust… assuming he had teeth of course.

Ah, she spaced again and had to punch away Zeruel's sudden left cross that seemed to be thrown from China. Using his off-balance posture, she darted forward and slammed Unit-00's right foot into his unguarded stomach, which sent the creature fumbling back and gasping for air. She stood hands at the ready for his next move.

This appeared to be laugh uproariously as though he had been told a really funny joke. Still, it didn't loosen the guard of Unit-00, still in its orange mode since Rei hadn't even really begun to fight. The massive maw of the Angel of Might closed into a feral grin, a sinister chuckle still dancing from his lips.

"It appears I underestimated you lot." Zeruel decided to try bantering again, more than likely to give him time to analyze their brief exchange. "I had grown so disgusted by my brethren that I forgot that it wasn't that you got lucky, and more that you were actually skilled."

"That almost sounds like a compliment." Rei decided banter was good, as it left him possibly open for a swift attack.

"Maybe it is, or maybe I'm just sad because I'll have to actually try to win now." He slouched his body forward a little, giving him an ape-like appearance. "It would have been more fun for me if I could just crush you and move on. Struggling is such a human trait after all."

"So is arrogance." And thus did Rei grow proud and spat in the eye of the Angel of Might.

"Haughty bitch," he smiled despite his anger, mainly because he was going to enjoy stomping her into the ground for that.

Rei just gestured for him to bring it, signaling round two had just gotten underway.

/-\ /-\ /-\

Off in a small apartment somewhere in Tokyo-3, Kaworu took a seat on his couch, joined on the modest piece of furniture by Mari. The spartan layout of the apartment notwithstanding, it was a decent place to hang out at and relax. Kaworu closed his eyes for a second and sighed, something that seemed a bit off to Mari.

"Something wrong?" She asked, only mildly concerned about his welfare. She was there to make sure no one else killed him after all, no one but her anyways.

"Just feeling the battle going on." He answered, taking another deep breath before opening his eyes. "It's Zeruel, isn't it?"

"You should be able to tell, Adam." She teased, smirking at his glare as if daring him to do something. "Oh, sorry, you're 'Kaworu Nagisa' now right?"

"I try to be anyways." He muttered, almost too low for her to hear. "Anyways, I don't suppose you would know what the Commander has planned for me, would you?"

"Of course," she said with slight shrug. "Hell, I can even tell you, if you really want to know."

"Let me be more specific: does he want me to pilot an Evangelion?"

"Unit-04 was generously donated to us by NERV-Nevada, and is being fixed by the good Doctor Akagi as we speak."

"Fixed?"

"Oh you know, infinite power source, no cooling system. Overheat it once and kiss your ass goodbye."

"Ah, the S2 organ retrieved from Shamshel's corpse. So what about you, I doubt he's that paranoid about me that he'd activate you just to threaten me."

"No, I'm pretty sure the Commander would do that."

"Okay, yeah. I can see him doing that."

"The simple reason is that I'm to pilot the newly discovered Evangelion Unit-05."

"But there isn't a fifth unit..." And as he finished, the true horror of it all dawned in his eyes.

"Yes, I have a machine soul inside of me." She smiled, showing off all of her very sharp teeth in a toothy grin that would make a shark scream in terror. "Which means, for all intents and purposes, I am Evangelion Unit-05."

"You are a very scary lady, you know that?"

"I am naught but the vessel of the Beast, were you expecting something else?"

"No." He said quietly, almost feebly. "I suppose not. Unlike me, you were created around the Beast to house it for the Commander's purposes. Even if I wanted to, I can never just be the vessel of Adam."

"What are you talking about?" She hadn't expected the sudden downturn in his mood. Besides, him being morose meant she couldn't tease him without feeling bad about it.

"There were… complications with my creation." He didn't mean to sound so evasive about it, but it was hard to talk about the root of his problems.

"The Commander did say as much when he briefed me," she held a pitying look for a brief flash of a second before it was gone. "So there is more than the soul of Adam and the body in there eh?"

"Yes, there is I, Tabris inside here as well." He said, his voice ringing musically in an almost entirely different inflection than before.

"Wait, there's another angel in there?" Mari was clearly taken aback, since she hadn't heard of this beforehand.

"There is no need to be afraid. I mean you no harm and I do not wish to fight against humanity, only to observe and live." Tabris responded almost too easily, as if he was preparing to say this every day since Kaworu had come into existence.

"I'm not afraid; I just don't know what I'm supposed to do." She blew out a sigh before standing. "But as long as you stay friendly, I won't tell anyone. And I won't have to because I'll just kill you if you turn hostile."

"Your terms are… acceptable I suppose." Tabris nodded before his head lolled back and then snapped forward. "I hate when that happens."

"Kaworu?"

"It's okay Mari, Adam doesn't speak to people much, so it's me."

"How did that Angel get inside you? Possession shouldn't be possible as long as you're holding Adam."

"He kind of interrupted the part where they build the soul cage inside the vessel, so we are all really bonded instead of vessel and host."

"Does the Commander know?"

"Probably, though it may be a lot of guesswork on his end. Of course, if he does know, that means he somehow has arrested the Dead Sea Scrolls from Keel and the others."

"What do those have to do with anything?"

"The information written on them are actually a secret code, when deciphered allows the reader to gain knowledge on any subject they desire. I should know, Adam wrote them within the first few days of his arrival on this base Earth." He shivered as he thought of something. "If this is true, then Gendo Ikari is the scariest man alive."

"The gift of Knowledge AND the gift of Life?" And even the Beast was afraid.

"Sadly, the final gift has been lost to the ether since time immemorial. Even if Lilith possessed it, she could not bestow it on another."

"The final gift… the gift of Wisdom I guess?"

"Correct. Though if he ever did attain that, he'd be encroaching on what some would say is the territory of God."

"Creating life isn't enough?"

"Men create life by fucking a woman while she's ovulating. By now, such an act is an ordinary miracle by now."

"I suppose that is true."

"I'll have to have a one-on-one with the Commander sometime, it'll prove… enlightening for us both."

"And maybe you'll get some one-on-one time with his son eh?" She remembered that the dossier on him had mentioned a strange fascination with Shinji, so this may be prime teasing material.

"That'd be more for Tabris than for me." He did cough and refuse to look her in the eyes anyways.

"Uh-huh."

Kaworu just let his shoulders sag as he let out a full body sigh. Today was going to be a long day…

/-\ /-\ /-\

Rei rolled with a punch from Zeruel, bringing to bear her chaingun once more, the telltale whine sending the Angel scampering back. Rounds sliced through his flesh, but only served to annoy the purported Angel of Might, wounds fast closing as he tried to land a solid hit on his shiftier opponent. His mammoth fist tore into the ground, sending a huge clump of Earth flying into the gunfire, kicking up a cloud of dirt and allowing Zeruel to regroup.

"For his size, he moves pretty well." Rei whispered to herself, fingers flexing on her controls as she waited for his next move.

The familiar glow of the Angel's beam attack cut through the cloud, forcing the Evangelion to hastily defend itself from sudden beam. Rei's teeth gritted as she pushed her AT-field against the beam, doing her best to maintain her ground. Finding enough of the attack's momentum halted, the Evangelion then slipped the outer layers of its shield into the beam and expanded them, shattering the once imposing beam of death into harmless motes of light.

With the rhythm of the fight firmly in her grasp, Rei's following dodge could almost be called prescient. Her faithful steed moved with a grace that should not be possessed by such a giant, landing a kick to the elbow of the Angel. Before he could recover his defenses, Unit-00 slid in and blew its fellow giant back with a thundering shoulder charge.

Zeruel coughed slightly as he slipped back with the hit, eyes narrowing as he realized that he was far too slow to keep pace.

"So," he said; tone suddenly conversational. "Are you done with your warm-ups as well?"

"I've been waiting for you to get done," Rei said, rolling her eyes as she recognized the bravado for what it was. "I don't allow myself to get so lax as to need a warm-up. The luxury called lazy is not for someone like me."

"Hmph, I should have expected that of you." Zeruel said, widening his stance a little. "Never know who you have to stab in the back next, eh Lilith?"

"Sorry, but she says she doesn't have words for an insect like you." Rei watched the Angel intently, not letting a single twitch go by without her noticing it. "And I find myself in agreement. Your attempts at banter only serve to show how weak you really are." Ooh, she hit right below the belt with that one.

"Talk is cheap eh? Well, I don't find myself in disagreement with you there," he said with an easy calm, before his body suddenly expanding to twice its previous size. "Then let's see how you like my actions!"

Predictably, Rei just chose to shoot him before he could do anything with his new bulk, and was thusly surprised when he exploded in a giant fireball. Before she could gain her wits to check and see if he was really dead, the now slimmed down Angel of Might came flying out of the smoke cloud and slammed both feet into the dome of Unit-00. The Evangelion staggered, but recovered to smash the Angel under the chin with the barrel of her chaingun.

Flipping with the hit, Zeruel kicked Unit-00 in the head again, dropping the Evangelion for the first time in their fight. Completing his flip, he landed lightly on his feet and began dancing on the balls of his feet. This proved prudent when it allowed him to avoid Rei's counter fire, zigzagging the bullets before he closed in. His grin glistened in the reflection off the helm of Unit-00 as he was poised to strike again.

To his shock, Rei managed to lower her gun and punch him from the air before he could register her movement.

Jaw crushed, face mangled, Zeruel flipped again and landed upon his feet. Not wasting a moment, he was back on the attack, charging in even faster. This time, he scored a quick kick to the ribs of the Evangelion, blocking her counter punch this time with a nifty cross block.

However, his kick didn't damage Unit-00, which dropped its weapon and bull rushed in, seizing the Angel and roughly slamming him to the ground. Seemingly not fazed by it at all, Zeruel managed to regain his feet and begin grappling with the Evangelion, the twin Titans exchanging close range blows. Punch for punch, elbow for elbow, and yes, knee for knee the two went, with the Angel of Might taking the worst of it.

In exchanging power for speed, he had now put himself into a situation where his opponent now had the strength advantage to muscle him around.

With great haste, he wrestled free from Unit-00's grasp and used his new found speed to separate from the larger Evangelion. This was beginning to get a little bit riskier, but he found it not unwelcomed. The Angel paced a little and considered his options.

By taking the speed advantage, he could hit the wretched Evangelion more than it could hit him. However, he was also more vulnerable to damage and he was slowly taxing his regeneration abilities with all the hits he had taken to fuck with her head. So as it were, they could no longer exchange blows or else he'd keel over dead in no time flat.

Zeruel juked left, dodging Unit-00's sudden lunging right, before diving forward to dodge the follow up side kick.

"Let's see how long she'll last shall we?" He whispered to himself, before he shot in and drilled the Evangelion in the temple with a left hook.

Sadly, the damage was negligible but he did succeed in further angering the pilot of the new-age Machine god. The desperate left right combo that followed was within his expectations, and was dodged with ease. He didn't, however, expect the thin piece of AT-field that wrapped around his neck and yanked him roughly into a violent knee to the stomach.

Dazed but not quite out of it, Zeruel managed to defend himself by forming a second face on his back and firing a beam of low intensity at the Evangelion's face in order to make her retreat. He regained his wind and wits on all fours, before springing up to block a charging kick with one to the chest of Unit-00. Momentum and a suddenly lack of discipline actually halted the charge since Rei didn't even bother to brace for a counter attack.

The Angel of Might could not savor his momentary victory as Unit-00 summarily drew a progressive knife and threw it into his eye.

"OW, MY FUCKING EYE! YOU BITCH!" He cleared her current range and drew the blade from his eye, blood gushing from the wound even as his regeneration sought to close the wound. In this brief break in the action, he noticed something was odd. Hadn't the Evangelion been a different color before?

"Why won't you just die already?" Rei was fucking pissed now, all of this Angel's useless struggling just served to infuriate her more. Her breathing was erratic and she just wanted him to die now.

She sounded mad, which to Zeruel's ears, was the sweetest of songs. If he had cracked her composure, there was no way for her to win now. A smile split his features even as his grotesque head wound finally closed.

"It's over," he said with confidence, plotting just how to win.

/-\ /-\ /-\

"Shinji, how are your preparations coming?" Maya asked over com, deciding to make sure that everything was still on track.

"Everything is fine," he replied with an uncharacteristic ease, not even being sarcastic when he said it. "Tell the guys in weapons they did a hell of a job on this rifle." As he spoke, Unit-01 was inspecting the new sniper rifle that NERV had developed for it.

"I'll pass it along," Maya responded, smiling a little. "Do you need an update on Rei?"

"Nah, I figure she's doing just fine." Shinji didn't seem too concerned, if only because he believed in the plan given out by Misato. "And me knowing what is happening will only cause me problems later."

"If you say so," Maya would allow him to have his privacy on that front. Her job wasn't to pry, but to make sure they weren't surprised by anything. "So, you seem to know a lot of how the Angels behave, so what can you glean from this one?"

"I don't know much, I haven't crossed fists with him yet." Shinji closed his eyes, as he focused on Zeruel. "But I can guess he's kind of arrogant, but not very bright. To duck our sensors is something that doesn't happen often, but he still ran headlong into our gauntlet."

"So you don't think he's that bright or at the very least he's not that cunning." Maya did her best to parse the layered talk from Shinji, but she wasn't confident that she did it right.

"More or less," he allowed, knowing he had been a little bit vague. "Though, Asuka and I have a pet theory that there are certain things that have shifted in the Angels from the start of our battles."

"Oh yeah?" She asked, raising her eyebrow a little.

"Well, it was her theory; I've just added my own observations."

"Go on."

"The way she sees it, the Angels have exhibited several layers of intelligence, depending on the circumstances." He sat back a little, and thought a bit. "Take Iruel for example, he had enough smarts to make a good pitch to ensure he got what he wanted. Sure, it was extremely advantageous to us and we lost nothing in accepting. Compare that to the first that sort of charged in blindly, there seems to be a certain level of intelligence growth."

"So what are you saying?"

"The Angels are growing in varying ways that aren't even consistent with each other. Their growth is chaotic and unchartable, even the things that seem to follow a pattern are being broken with the next one discovered."

"If I got it right, what you're saying is that the Angels are pretty diverse creatures that can't really be used to predict the next one."

"To simplify it, the Angels are pretty much like humans. That's what Asuka said anyways, and I'm inclined to agree."

"What."

"It's not even that unbelievable if you think about it." Shinji reached back and pulled a water bottle out from a hidden compartment and took a pull from it. "They all clearly have different stages of development and levels of intelligence. Even the unintelligible Fish Angel had enough smarts to figure out how to trap Unit-02 for example. It looks outright stupid next to Iruel, but that's because Iruel was clearly further along his development."

"So, they're people?"

"Like people, it's an important distinction to make. They're not quite human, just very similar and we can assign human like emotion and intelligence. If this is really correct, than we may have stumbled on another truly intelligent life form."

"Out to kill us."

"Of course they are; why wouldn't they be? Wouldn't need giant robots of questionable origins to fight them if they were friendly."

"Right."

"I'm sure we'll get this sorted out eventually."

"That sounds weird coming from you."

"Really? Asuka said the same thing."

/-\ /-\ /-\

Zeruel immediately shifted his body to a more balanced variant of strength and speed. He had been a bit foolish to have fought the balanced Evangelion with too much of either one. Not wasting anytime, he immediately exchanged blows with Rei, the thundering sound causing minor vibrations to be felt for miles around.

Unlike the beginning of the fisticuffs, the Angel of Might was giving as well as he was getting. Their speed and strength equal, all that was left was their determination. As the two Titans clashed fist to fist, the sound of their blows must have seemed as though the world was ending.

It was not of course, not as long as the Evangelion remained to stand in the way of the Angels.

Rei could feel the pain from the blows in the back of her mind, but her rage and frustration refused to allow her to slow down. Every blow thudded through her mind, flooding her with a dull ache that felt as though she would come apart any second now. But she refused to yield to such a thing as pain, refused to give an inch to this beast of an opponent.

This whole thing was unfair, another Angel capable of rational thought and all it sought was their death. Why was such a creature before them now after they had finally started to gain true understanding of their opponent? Why was it alive when Leliel and Iruel died?

Unit-00 jerked wildly and slipped a punch, before slamming its head home and crushing the left collarbone of Zeruel.

Such injuries were fleeting, however, and even now she could hear the shattered bone reshaping itself. The momentary advantage was pressed in any event, as she started bouncing punches off the face of the disoriented Angel. Damage, however, were not the reason for this barrage. She just wanted him to ache a little, and despair as he realized he couldn't win.

However, he stymied her again with a well timed counter, sending the Evangelion back on its heels once more. That one dazed her, just for a second, and she was on the defensive. His blows came in rapid succession and with sufficient force behind them that tanking them was not on the table. And at this range, her AT-field was useless since she needed it to keep him vulnerable.

Rei swiftly decided to ignore the mental dilemma and punch him in the face again, which seemed to be a fine defensive maneuver.

The Angel skipped back on his heels, not really hurt by the punch and allowing her the distance to open her defenses up again. He had to have been wearing her down by now; she had absorbed a lot of his blows without protecting herself. Again, he took advantage of his body's unique abilities and stretched his arm across the distance between her in a lightning fast punch.

It clipped off her guard but it halted any possible advance from her, meaning it was Zeruel's turn to attack. He shot forward, extending a kick to keep her in place before he caught up and slammed a high speed left cross into her guard, which was augmented by him increasing both the mass and density of the limb in question. The Evangelion's arms fell away, the guard blasted apart by the relentless onslaught.

A right cross to the face followed, dropping Unit-00 to its back.

Zeruel sought to press his advantage, but was stymied by Rei alertly kicking a leg up into his face. The Evangelion swung itself into a crouch and surged forward with a powerful left hook to the exposed body of the Angel. Ribs shattered under the force of the blow, staggering the monster once again. Rei followed with an overhand right that dropped the Angel outright, the satisfying sound of his jaw breaking again bringing a smile to her face.

Flat on his back, Zeruel pondered once more what had gone wrong. She was enraged but she was even fiercer if such a thing was possible. It was slowly becoming clear he couldn't match her in hand to hand, and even if he did land a big hit, she landed one that seemed a magnitude greater than his own. She was skilled, he could plainly see that, but he hadn't expected such a gulf.

Deep down in his heart, he began to despair that his mission was to end in the same abject miserable failure of his kin.

He was Zeruel! He was the Angel of Might and the strongest of them all! And yet here he lay, beaten down and afraid, openly afraid of dying. No… not dying, he was afraid of failing Adam, his progenitor and the reason he was even here today.

There had to be a way past her defenses, he had already found purchase in her mind already. She was clearly angry and frustrated, so whatever he was doing was working. It was just having diminishing returns because she was beating the shit out of him even as he scored hits on her. He had to go beyond that, he had to start impairing her mind with more than anger.

If he could make her fear, or even better, begin to despair, then he had his ticket to victory.

"I hate you so much," Zeruel said as he finally regained his feet, jaw repaired. He wobbled a little; the pain was affecting him more than he thought.

"You've said as much before." Rei retorted, the Evangelion poised to pounce in an instant.

"No, this hatred is separate from the one I have for your foul guest." He didn't laugh, he didn't smile. He had finally calmed down enough to start using his head and stop letting his pride blind him. "I acknowledge you as a separate being and want you to know that I absolutely hate you." The air began to vibrate even as he glowed a faint orange, as he pulled back his AT-field and started rapidly shifting the frequency.

"Believe me, the feeling is mutual." She replied, even as she watched what he was doing carefully. He had been full of annoying surprises, and this looked to be no different.

"That is good," he whispered, before expanding his AT-field again, causing the hairs on the back of Rei's neck to rise. "Hate is a valuable emotion, it can sustain you. As it has sustained me since my birth."

"Because it is a convenient excuse, so when you do whatever you please, you can excuse your actions." Rei wasn't having his bullshit, especially since it sounded like he was about to launch into some pity party. "Not that you need an excuse, but from the sounds of it, hollow justification is all you really want."

"Speak all you want," he laughed, a mocking sound filled with malice. "But all I need from you now is to hear you scream."

Rei's vision exploded into odd shapes and colors and it seemed as if reality itself was ready to come apart at the seams. Zeruel shifted from his vaguely humanoid shape into a giant blob of black stuff with this weird mask face. He surged forward, only for Unit-00 to dodge and roughly seize him, before slamming the blob down to the ground.

The sudden movement only made her vision explode with further color and noise, giving Rei a brief bout of vertigo. She shook it off quickly though, and was able to defend his next lunge with some difficulty. Unit-00 swayed under the effects of Zeruel's weird attack, but remained standing.

Under no circumstance was she going to fall from a bit of lights and colors flying to and fro.

A sudden attack from the left was thwarted with a punch, a rear assault defused with a back kick. He came from the right and was foiled again, but her attacks lacked their usual oomph due to her confusion. She couldn't be certain it was him at all, so she conserved her energy by just throwing a limb out at him and knocking him over.

He attacked again and again, relentlessly with such swiftness it bordered on teleportation, and yet, his attacks were thwarted again and again. But the colors, the lights, and the attacks were eroding her sanity and control bit by bit. What began as a measured if sloppy defense was quickly slipping away into tiring desperation.

Rei's breath began to labor, but her defense remained solid, marking well her training for such a battle.

"Still you struggle even as your mind and eyes betray you," Zeruel taunted, being a little too smug as he observed Unit-00's slumped posture. "It is admirable, and all the more satisfying to know you squirm in that piece of garbage."

Unit-00's head suddenly snapped towards him, as if he had just given himself away.

"Do come on and try and find me, I know you'll fail." The Angel seemed a bit too confident in his safety, as though he had already won while his opponent still stood.

Then a familiar hexagonal shield shimmered to life in front of the Evangelion, which stopped the colors and lights swirling around it.

"Oh motherf-" He found it hard to complete his next sentence when Unit-00's fist hit him square in the face, backed by a metric ton of fuck you.

He did manage an impressive pirouette in the air before he landed flat on his back and cratered the ground. The Evangelion swiftly mounted its fallen enemy and began to rain down blows that quickly deepened the hole they were already in. Rei couldn't feel the impact in her arms, her nerves deadened by all of the fighting up to now.

It was still an impressive sight, her relentlessly pummeling her opponent when she was already this tired. The dull ache in her bones made it all seem so sluggish, and she couldn't tell if he was even taking damage or even alive after all this. It would all be over soon though, she'd kill this Angel and then she'd rest and forget about the anger this pest had stirred in her breast.

"It's almost over," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes and slowing her attacks by just a fraction of a second.

And then Zeruel swelled up and exploded in her face, the blast of air throwing her off him and sending the Evangelion flipping into the air.

"For you, it certainly is." He watched impassively as Unit-00 crashed into the ground, creating another crater. The regeneration was slow to heal the damage, but he could mask it with strategic morphing. Once more in his fully humanoid form, he stood and waited for his opponent to rise.

"You won't get passed me that easily," Rei said, slowly drawing the Evangelion to its feet once more. She probably couldn't win now, but that didn't mean she was done making this Angel work. "I stand here simply as the Vanguard, your lack of skills will only do in eventually. I fight so that others may take you down, your dependence on your strength will only bring you ruin."

"I don't need a lecture from you," he said, body finally ready for the final charge. "Besides, as long as I win, my strength was always right."

"And that is why you'll remain an idiot until you die." Rei said, her tone only slightly mocking. "But as it were, you have yet to win."

"You're right, you're still standing aren't you?" He sprang forward, rushing across the gap between them. "Then allow me to correct that oversight!"

They traded blows again, though they lacked some of the dazzling speed from before, but the power was still there. Unit-00 gave as good as it got, and even as Rei found it harder and hard to stay awake, it still stood firm in the face of Zeruel's offense. Hit after hit, the two traded punches, often simultaneously would the blows land.

At the five minute mark of this brutal exchange, Rei was nearly unconscious but her fighting spirit kept her steed in the battle. Though her punches lacked the thought and intelligent placement from before, they kept at least part of their bone smashing force. The pain was gone, she couldn't feel it anymore, and she could barely even tell if she was still standing.

Unit-00 and Zeruel landed another simultaneous blow and both combatants slumped to a knee.

His face was mush, and he could barely tell where he was anymore. His non-stabbed out eye was nearly swollen shut so he wasn't even certain she was still in front of him. Even now, he couldn't seem to close out the deal against the Evangelion, a fact that vexed him to no end. His reserves were being depleted by all the healing he had to do, which didn't bode well for his future battles.

Blood suddenly started gushing from his head as he sought to deflate the swelling. His eyesight clearing, he could see the Evangelion on a knee, just as he was, but that wasn't what held him in place. It was covered in dings and scrapes, but the armor was structurally intact.

"I don't believe this." He got to his feet and his foe did not match him. It would seem for all the lack of physical damage, he had managed to render the new-age machine god inert and unconscious. Though this technically meant he had won, he was not very happy about it. "In the end, I just outlasted her. No masterful final attack, no moment of triumph, she just passes out."

Time was not on his side though, he couldn't stand around and complain until she woke up. Shakily, he stumbled past her, pausing to make sure she wouldn't rise up and attack him again. Two more Evangelion were waiting for him, and he had to plan for them.

Zeruel had just put Rei out of sight when he felt something hit him in the right collarbone area. Pain and blood flooded out from the wound, and he could see his AT-field splintering from something hitting it. He collapsed to a knee again and spat up blood, eye darting around in disbelief he had been hit by something he couldn't see or sense.

Lines of orange sparked from the wound, and then there was a minor explosion that tore his arm off.

"Round 2 motherfucker." Shinji said, relaxing his finger off the trigger of his new rifle, content to watch the Angel fall.

End chapter 19

Teaser for chapter 20 "I Dare You to Tell Me to Walk Through Fire":

"Get up you big bitch," Shinji said, using the scope on his rifle to watch the Angel's movement. "That wasn't a fatal hit; so quit pouting like a prissy princess and get the fuck up already."

Zeruel drug himself up, taking care to reattach his arm instead of trying to grow a new one.

"That's right, come to daddy you little shit." The Third Child was more than willing to dish out the hurt on this Angel, more so now that it appeared to have beaten Rei.

"Where did that attack come from?" Zeruel looked about, but still could not find the origin of that shot.

"Come on and rush forward like the panicked git you are," Shinji said, beginning to make adjustments for his next attack. "You know you want to because you're stupid."

The Angel of Might started charging forth once more, gaining speed at a frightening interval.

"Nope." Shinji fired, nailing Zeruel in the left knee, toppling the beast into a pitched roll that sent him tumbling head over feet. "You're messing with the King of the Bastards son, and there is no way I am not going to fuck you up."

Author Note: And we're finally done. Took roughly a nine month period filled with ups and downs. Ah well, let's see how long chapter 20 takes. Later.


End file.
